Man United 1-1 Arsenal: Declan Rice levels with fine strike after Bruno Fernandes free-kick as Gunners fall further behind Liverpool

Arsenal scored seven times in Eindhoven on Tuesday night. On Sunday at Old Trafford, they looked rather like a team that had got all its goals out of its system, a team that knows, for all the defiant words they conjure that, as far as their attempt to win the Premier League is concerned, the jig was up some time ago.

It is to their credit, perhaps, that they came from a goal down to play their part in a rousing finale in which both teams could have stolen a victory when neither quite deserved it but when the final whistle went, the table showed they lie 15 points adrift of Liverpool with only one game in hand.

They know that is not a battle they can win any more. When Declan Rice scored a superb equaliser late in the game, he ran to the corner flag to celebrate and taunt Manchester United’s fans. A team with surviving aspirations of winning the title would have hurried back to their own half to start the hunt for a winner as soon as possible.

Liverpool only need a maximum of 16 points from their last nine fixtures to seal their 20th league title, bringing them level with Manchester United’s tally. They are champions elect. Their coronation is a formality.

This was two more points dropped by Arsenal. Our muscle memory may tell us that Manchester United are a big team but the reality is that Ruben Amorim’s stuttering side is one of the worst in the division and that any opponent with pretensions to win the league should outclass them with ease.

Arsenal could not do that. They did manage one goal – a stunning strike from Rice late in the second half – but United deserved their share of the spoils and Arsenal needed two stunning saves from David Raya to preserve their point.

Rice produced a sweet strike from just inside the area to level the scores at Old Trafford

Bruno Fernandes had given the Red Devils the lead with a free-kick just before half-time

United? Well, they are clutching at straws and in that context, this was one of their best results of the season. A stunning free-kick from their captain had given them the lead at the end of the first half. ‘Well, at least we’ve still got Bruno,’ the United fanzine, United We Stand, had proclaimed from its front page.

Sometimes, it feels as if they have got Bruno and really not much else. Thousands of fans joined a protest march against the Glazer Family before the start but this has been another aberration of a season.

Arsenal may have surrendered the title some time ago but they needed a win here. They needed to give their fans evidence that they are still moving forward even though a distant second to Arne Slot’s team is the best they can now hope for.

They couldn’t deliver that but the second half performance of Myles Lewis-Skelly, the promise of Ethan Nwaneri, the class of Martin Odegaard, the blistering form of Rice and the promise of the return next month of Bukayo Saka still bodes well for their chances of going one better next season. They need to buy a striker, too.

There was a smell of cordite in the air when the match began as smoke drifted over from the protests on the stadium forecourt but there was little that was explosive about this match for a long time.

If you want a snapshot of the first half, how about this: half an hour had gone when Andre Onana comfortably collected a Rice corner. He tried to distribute the ball quickly but was baulked. He took a couple of stuttering steps and aborted the effort. Finally, he kicked the ball from hand. Its trajectory was low and mean. It went straight to Gabriel.

That was a highlight. Both teams lacked creativity. Arsenal were more slick and more eager but their final ball mostly went awry. They looked laboured. In the opening 45 minutes, they looked like a team that knows it has nothing to play for, except holding on to second place.

Then, on the stroke of the interval, Alejandro Garnacho picked up a loose ball and set off for goal before he was brought down on the edge of the box by Leandro Trossard. Fernandes curled a brilliant, beautiful free-kick over the wall and it bulged the net while Raya clawed at thin air.

Rice also produced a last-gasp challenge to deny Rasmus Hojlund in the closing stages

Gabriel Martinelli missed a golden chance to net a winner but replays showed he was offside

The Red Devils moved up to 14th with the point they claimed from their clash with Arsenal

United nearly doubled their lead eight minutes into the second half. Joshua Zirkzee turned cleverly near the half way line and passed the ball into the path of Diogo Dalot, who galloped down the left.

Dalot’s lofted ball to the back post was perfectly weighted to fall for Noussair Mazraoui, who was arriving at pace. Mazraoui met it sweetly and it seemed like a goal from the moment it left his boot. Raya had other ideas. He made a brilliant reaction save to deflect it wide with his right foot. 

Five minutes later, United came close again. Garnacho’s cross from the United right was deflected into the path of Zirkzee, who backheeled it goalwards. Raya was equal to it again. He got down sharply and smothered the ball. Zirkzee held his head in his hands.

15 minutes from time, United paid for their profligacy. Arsenal made a strong appeal for a handball but play was waved on. While everyone waited for the ball to go out of play so VAR could make up its mind, Arsenal scored.

Jurrien Timber dribbled his way through a crowd just inside the United area and played the ball back softly to Rice. Rice met it first time and swept the ball from right to left across Onana and into the corner of the United goal.

Now Arsenal sensed victory. Onana pushed a stinging drive from substitute Gabriel Martinelli wide and Matthijs De Ligt was lucky to escape putting Lewis-Skelly in a headlock at a corner. Quite what a player has to do to give away a penalty at corners in one of the mysteries of modern football.

Arsenal survived a scare when Mikel Merino was caught in possession on the edge of his own box and the ball fell to Rasmus Hojlund. Hojlund, who is in the midst of a barren run, delayed just long enough for Rice to produce a superb saving tackle and take the ball off his toe as he prepared to shoot.

Arsenal went straight down the other end and promptly missed a golden opportunity to win the game. The ball was played into the path of Trossard but pulled his shot wide of Onana’s left-hand post when he ought to have hit the target.

 Amroim’s men improved in the second half and will feel unfortunate not have scored a winner

Arsenal blew one last chance to win the game when Odegaard’s shot was pushed straight into the path of Martinelli and Martinelli somehow managed to balloon his shot over the bar from three yards out. Replays showed Martinelli was offside.

There was time for one last moment of drama. Mazraoui turned superbly in the Arsenal box and pulled the ball back into the path of Fernandes. Fernandes met it cleanly and Raya dived to block it with his body.

The ball spiralled into the air and it was clear that when it landed, spin was going to drag it towards the goal. Raya anticipated that, too. He leapt up and as the ball span towards goal and Toby Collyer tried to force it in, Raya hooked it out with his right hand.