With Chelsea losing against Liverpool, this game offered United the opportunity to go 9 points clear and, with only 10 minutes to go, it looked like they were on target and about to inflict Arsenal's first defeat at their new ground. The first half was intriguing, if a little cautious by both teams. Neither side hide clear chances although Henry did have a penalty appeal turned down and Lehman had to be at his best to deny Rooney, touching his half-volley onto the crossbar. Larsson nearly headed in from the resultant corner only to be denied, again by Lehman.
The second-half started with the fixture still very much in the balance but it was United who broke the deadlock with nearly a quarter of an hour gone. Ronaldo played in the ever increasingly impressive Evra down the left wing, who cross found Rooney, who made a difficult header look easy. A just reward for a player for whom the goals had deserted him ddespite his best efforts.
Having taken the lead, United seem content to let Arsenal come at them and this tactic seemed to be working. Unable to make headway through the middle, Arsenal attacked down the right flank and immediately found joy. Scholes and Evra battled against Rosicky and Fabregas as the ball buffeted between the four but it was Arsenal who took the ball away. The resulting cross evaded Henry but substitute van Persie made no mistake, catching Neville by surprise and yard off the pace.
With fulltime approaching United were happy to settle for the point but Arsenal had not finished. Again, attacking down the right flank, Eboue crossed and, both Ferdinand and Vidic, who had been outstanding, failed to stop Henry from heading home. For once, it wasn't United that snatched the winner in the dying seconds.
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