Story highlights
- Manchester United beat Arsenal on the road
- First away victory for Van Gaal in the EPL
- Chelsea extend lead to seven points
- Manchester City come from behind to beat Swansea
Manchester United secured a vital 2-1 victory against Arsenal, their first on the road in the English Premier League this season under coach Louis Van Gaal.
Arsenal started much the brighter and could have been three nil up in the first thirty minutes, but poor finishing and an inform David de Gea in the Manchester United goal kept the scores level.
But United took control in the second half thanks to a Kieran Gibbs own goal and a late Wayne Rooney chip.
A stunning solo goal by Olivier Giroud, returning from a broken leg, gave Arsenal a glimmer of hope but United held on to move up to fourth place in the table.
"I think it is a very important victory," Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney told Sky Sports after the match.
"We weathered the storm and knew they were vulnerable to the counter attack. We rode our luck at times but our goalkeeper was fantastic."
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Indifferent form
Both teams came in to the match having endured a subdued start to the season.
Whilst Manchester United remain in transition, having had three coaches in three seasons, Arsenal have also been playing far from their potential.
Yet it was Arsenal that started the game much brighter with Jack Wilshere in midfield and former United Striker Danny Welbeck carving out a number of chances.
But Wilshere and Welbeck could not find the back of the net. In fact, WIlshere was lucky to stay on the pitch after appearing to strike United midfielder Marouane Fellaini with his head.
United were content sitting back and hitting Arsenal on the break and it was against the run of play when they took the lead.
A hopeful cross from the left appeared to be of little trouble for the Arsenal defense. But, under pressure from the imposing Fellaini, Kieran Gibbs managed to first knock down his goalkeeper and then divert the subsequent shot into his own net past the prone Wojciech Szczesny, who was then replaced due to injury.
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Arsenal probed in the minutes that followed but it was a poor quality game and when Angel di Maria was cut loose by Fellaini on the break, who in turn fed Rooney before he chipped the on rushing goalkeeper to make it 2-0, half of the Emirates Stadium had gone home.
Giroud's wonder goal deep in injury time gave Arsenal some hope but the full time whistle came soon enough, and with it a chorus of boos from the home crowd.
It has been a good week for Rooney, who played his 100th match for England midweek, scoring three times in two victories, before scoring again today. "It has been an indifferent start," he admitted after the game. "It has been a good week and I hope now we can go on a good run of games. Today was a massive result."
Chelsea roll on
Chelsea continued their unbeaten run this season with an easy victory against West Brom. Early goals from Diego Costa and Eden Hazard, followed by a red card for West Brom's Claudio Yacob, effectively ended the contest before half time. Chelsea are now seven points clear of second place Southampton, who play Monday.
Meanwhile, Manchester City kept up their chase of Chelsea by beating Swansea City 2-1. But City had to come from behind to do so. Wilfred Bony scored within the first ten minutes for the Swans before goals from Steven Jovetic and Yaya Toure secured a much needed win.
