ManUre 0 - 1 Arsenal

Arsenal played their best football of this young season, without the services of Thierry Henry or Robin Van Persie, and came away with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United.

With his two main strikers ruled out due to injury, Arsene Wenger’s hand was a bit forced. He went with a 4-5-1 formation, Emmanuel Adebayor the lone attacker up front.

That meant the match was going to come down to a battle of the midfields, and on the day, it was Arsenal’s combination of Cesc, Freddie, Gilberto, Hleb and Rosicky that proved the stronger side.

Adebayor’s first touch still often leaves something to be desired, but he did the job he was asked, including drawing a penalty early on.

Gilberto was unlucky to slip while taking the spot kick, and the shot was saved rather easily.

It was not however, a sign of things to come, as the Gunners controlled long stretches of the match. That’s not to say that ManUre didn’t get their chances. Mad Jens made several good saves, including two excellent stops on Christiano Ronaldo, the first a shot that hit the German square in the face, and the second an amazing quick reaction save, parrying the shot with the tip of his fingers.

Arsenal kept plugging away. Late in the second half, the excellent Alex Hleb was taken off in favor of new signing Julio “The Beast” Baptista. The Beast immediately got into the thick of things, sending an excellent shot just wide of the post.

Finally, in the 86th minute, wunderkind Cesc Fabregas stripped Christiano Ronaldo of the ball a few yards outside the ManUre penalty area, found a streaking Adebayor to his left, and sent a pin-point through ball to the striker, who in turn, slotted the ball beneath the diving keeper.

Perhaps saving his best for last, Lehmann again made an amazing save, stretching just far enough to reach a Ole Gunnar Solskjær shot that was definitely heading in just moments after Arsenal took the lead.

After three minutes of stoppage time after the 90, it was 1-0 to the Arsenal, and a result that Arsene Wenger was quoted as saying is his best ever away to ManUre.

Two wins in a row now, and the team are starting to build some momentum. The Gunners will be looking to keep the good results coming when Sheffield United visit the Grove this Saturday. Kickoff is 10AM ET, and the match will be shown live on Fox Soccer Channel here in the States.