hello to you on a cracking night here at the theater of dreams old trafford
i'm derek ray joined for commentary by former england international lee dixon and we've got
premier league action coming right up it is manchester united versus arsenal thanks derek
good atmosphere here everybody looking forward to what should be a really entertaining game
when ronaldo's on the bitchley we tend to think that he will stamp his authority on the game
but in particular do you expect from ronaldo this time he's on the ball all the time and his ability
on the ball is absolutely phenomenal he doesn't pass the ball away he lends it to his teammates
because he wants it back very difficult to get the ball off him well manchester united
have chosen this particular shake david decayed begins in goal harry maguire plays with rafael
varan at the back and the starting role an attack is handed to cristiano ronaldo
good luck and this is the arsenal starting eleven so it was interesting to try to sum
up a team's style of play their approach and there are many who think that it's
overly conservative in this case what do you think lee well derek
it's not my preferred way of playing that's for sure but horses for courses
it's fine until you concede do they have a plan b if that happens i'm not too sure
an absorbing matching prospects manchester united get the ball rolling
scott mctominay pogba has it
ronaldo oh they've lost it
good work to win it back high up the
one bisaka ronaldo at the ready and you need your defender to take charge now paul pogba
ronaldo an early goal it is the ideal opening
well here it is again and all the credit goes to the goal scorer but you have to ask questions
about the keeper he's gotta have that covered for me no wonder he's frustrated with himself
so the game restarted by arsenal a wake-up call for the arsenal players perhaps
can they construct a response
lacazette and arsenal now find themselves in potentially a dangerous position
arsenal's free kick here
given away by manchester united
keeping possession of the ball with authority greenwood
greenwood
ronaldo almost a second goal of this match but the goalkeeper had his own
views on that subject well he'd be looking for a brace to striker not to be on that occasion
he's driven in the corner just unable to take advantage of that developing situation
firing it towards joel oh yes he's going to be proud of that moment
what purity of strike caused absolutely perfectly
well i wasn't expecting him to hit it from there and neither was the keeper wow what a hit
are the girl again albeit from a different angle
well these players have followed he's every command anselm the coach must be delighted
it's going their way two-nil ben white it's with takahiro toma yasu gabrielle
pierre-emerick aubameyang and there to intervene
really nice ball it has to be well he strayed offside just as it looked promising
shaw
bruno fernandez moving the ball nicely looking for that final pass
thomas now lacazette they might be on to something it did look on for them but not to be
cristiano ronaldo
creative look about this the defender doing his job
so the corner played into the box and clearing it away prepare to take on the shot
united enjoying the bulk of possession here if you have that much of the ball you can
put pressure on the opposition and badly now stunning save genius absolutely genius
and now the delivery firing is in
pogba with a shocking pass really
and the conditions look pretty good for the counter attack
can he play us in
an arsenal corner well there's a reason why we're highlighting cristiano ronaldo
he's been very creative out there lee yeah derek all those hours on the practice pitch pay off
time and time again for this lad it's not look you know why he's in the right place at the right time
and that will do it for the first half here at the theater of dreams
well a more than satisfactory performance from ronaldo in the first half
well if he plays like that in the second half we're in for a real treat he's scored
into the second half then and arsenal with a real mounted decline
on attacking possibilities
possession and patience the watch words
pogba bruno fernandes
shaw and cristiano ronaldo waiting
well nice and it's fallen for ronaldo might still be able to do a bit of damage
on a time for cool heads
it might be perfectly set up for the counter attack you know can they keep it going
and a substitution in the offing
i'll dealt with that ball comfortably
half an hour remaining then
as he tries to find alexandre lacazette with that pass chance to make a game of it here a goal
as they cut into their advantage still plenty of life in this match
derrick it's like the manager scored he's one of the players all of a sudden great stuff
well as we see from the replay the keeper's got no chance it's all about the strike
all about the power he does everything right head down
back of the net slightly different vantage point in terms of the goal that was scored
so back at action and arsenal just one behind now
maguire happy just to retain the ball in their own half and draw out the opposition paul pogba
here's luke shaw
scott mctominay and the quality of past needs to be a bit better
white
we're now inside the final 20 minutes of the game a chance maybe from the wide position
not that especially strong challenge
party fluency of movements
oh nice work to get past his opponent considerable momentum
courtesy of ronaldo but what can he produce from here
ben white gabrielle
the clock is against arsenal but what can they pull out of the fire here
fine tackle there to prevent the chance
well united just have to try and hang on here the fans are trying to get them over the line
running with the ball confidently able to get his body in the way
and very deftly cut out
it's with erdogan time and the scoreline against arsenal but still they're in this tremendous block
cristiano ronaldo
and the referee blows for full-time positives from manchester united
three points picked up lee yeah there wasn't much in it to be honest really competitive game
with chances at both ends but they probably just about edged it overall and deserved the result
well no getting away from it the real catalyst for his side tonight
cristiano ronaldo well he played well scored a goal what a good performance from him