9 things we learned from Arsenal's win at Old Trafford

Arsenal won at Old Trafford tonight for the first time in eight and a half years. It was in many ways the game that we all hoped for – despite its lack of quality. There was drama with Angel Di Maria being sent off for pulling the referee Michael Oliver’s shirt, strong tackles, and a great atmosphere – probably aided by the tackles. In other words it was exactly what you think of when picturing Man Utd v Arsenal, and Danny Welbeck’s winner was the crown that made it the perfect FA Cup match for the neutral. Here’s a few things we learned. 1. Celebrating against your old club doesn’t always make you “classless”. (Jon Super/AP) When Danny Welbeck latched on to Antonio Valencia’s pass-back, you really didn’t know what would happen. Welbeck is one of those players who after rounding David De Gea could’ve quite easily missed an open goal – but he didn’t, not against his old club. The best part came next though, as Welbeck shunned the recent trend and celebrated with all of his adrenaline. After all, Welbeck gave his all while at United and was told he was surplus to requirements. We imagine the evening couldn’t have gone better for him. Fair play to Welbeck for celebrating. Can we stop doing that thing where we praise a player's class when they don't celebrate now? #MUFCvAFC — Eric Cunha (@TheEricCunha) March 9, 2015 YESSSS Wellbeck! Great to see him actually celebrate as well!! #MUFCvAFC — Dan King (@danking25) March 9, 2015 Haters will say this picture is photoshopped #MUFCvAFC pic.twitter.com/HFHXwmGDZL — Mickel Davis (@MickelDavis) March 9, 2015 2. Radamel Falcao seems like he’s no longer trusted AT ALL by Louis Van Gaal. And Falcao can't even get on…#MUFCvAFC pic.twitter.com/4vqtFMWBOs — Paddy Power (@paddypower) March 9, 2015 You’re losing 2-1 to Arsenal in an FA Cup quarter-final. You know this is the only trophy left for you to win this season. You look around you and see if there’s anyone who can make an impact. Your eyes flash past long black hair and a white hairband – before turning around and deciding it’s hopeless. Falcao won’t score. That seems to be Van Gaal’s recent thinking, after also leaving Falcao on the bench when they needed a goal in their previous match. That time they were lucky to score a late winner, tonight they had no such luck. But what has happened to Falcao? The man who’s scored goals at a stunning rate wherever in Europe he’s been has been reduced to a bench-warmer, and his confidence won’t come back watching on game after game. 3. This is what an FA Cup game is supposed to feel like. Tense, manic, scrappy. What a game this is! end to end, sloppy play from both teams, but my god theres some nice meaty tackles going in #MUFCvAFC — Jake Maw (@JakeMaw) March 9, 2015 This FA Cup match tho #MUFCvAFC — Joey Ginnerty (@Joe_Ginn) March 9, 2015 It’s not often you can watch a game with such little quality and come away happy. There were no such issues tonight. 4. Are all shots placed really close to De Gea or is he just so good he makes it seem that way? (Jon Super/AP) De Gea has consistently been United’s best player this season, and it’s not even worth thinking about where they might be in the table did they not have the Spaniard in goal. He put in another typical performance tonight, but it did look like an awful lot of the shots he stopped were close to him. Good keepers make it look easy though, we suppose. Any other keeper bar Neuer or maybe Courtois that's in #MUFCvAFC — Sam Elliott (@SamElliott64) March 9, 2015 De Gea with save of the season!! #MUFCvAFC — J' (@Johnny_Slack) March 9, 2015 5. We still haven’t seen the best of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. We’re used to Oxlade-Chamberlain picking up the ball and driving past defenders. But for Arsenal’s first goal he crept through their defence, past more players than we cared to count, before finding Nacho Monreal open not far from him. Oxlade-Chamberlain is undoubtedly a massive talent, that much has been clear since we first saw him, but he needs to maintain a level of fitness and from there prove he can do it consistently. It would be fair to say that Arsenal wouldn’t have won the game today had it not been for him. Oxlaide-Chamberlain, you little twinkle toed gem! #MUFCvAFC — D. Davidson-Amadi (@TheSplinterCell) March 9, 2015 Oh my God. The Ox just ambled thru Man U's midfield and defence #MUFCvAFC — Gaz Weetman (@GazWeetman) March 9, 2015 Brilliant work from Oxlade-Chamberlain there. Urgh. #MUFCvAFC — Emma Storey (@JournoSpursEmma) March 9, 2015 6. Arsenal have some serious injury problems. Ox injured, in other news, the sky is blue #MUFCvAFC — Ashwath Narayan (@Ashwath12) March 9, 2015 #Arsenal really need to sort out their fitness department and coaching. Too many of their good players can't stay injury free. #MUFCvAFC — Kristian Greet (@KG4231) March 9, 2015 Is it just coincidence that so many of Arsenal’s players get injured so often, or is there a problem with their fitness and training? Oxlade-Chamberlain was the latest to leave a game for Arsenal half way through with an injury. When Arsene Wenger first came to Arsenal in the 1990′s, he brought with him some of the best fitness techniques in Europe. The game has changed considerably since then though, with mass use of sports scientists and the like. Do Arsenal use this enough, or does the problem lay elsewhere? 7. Other referees in England need to take note of Michael Oliver’s performance. (Jon Super/AP) This was always going to be a tough game to officiate, but Oliver did a stunning job. When a game finishes and as a referee or player you’re the top trending hashtag, something has either gone very well or very badly. For Oliver, it went very well. He stood up to divers Di Maria and Adnan Januzaj, he let the game go on whenever he could, he withstood pressure from the Old Trafford crowd, and he contributed massively to the game being so good. Oliver showed two yellow cards for diving, one for which Di Maria pulled his shirt and ended up receiving another. Despite being one of the youngest Premier League referees, he also managed to ignore the constant mass of players in front of him asking for someone to be sent off. It was appreciated widely. Mike Oliver, one of the best refereeing performances I've seen in a long time. #MUFCvAFC — Gareth Jones (@spychimp) March 9, 2015 This is the best and bravest refereeing I have seen in a long time. #MUFCvAFC — Alan Rosenbach (@AlanRosenbach) March 9, 2015 THIS REF IS….fair. Brave. Not like other refs. Whoa. #MUFCvAFC — Emily Pulham (@makingthemarrow) March 9, 2015 This is the single greatest referring display I history, give this ref a medal #MUFCvAFC — Luke Handley (@LukeBHandley) March 9, 2015 Man of the match – Michael Oliver 30 year old ref at Old Trafford wasn't intimidated. Correct calls. Good positioning. #AFCLive #MUFC — Transfer News (@FootieWriter) March 9, 2015 Think michael oliver learnt from not punishing joe hart for getting in his face last year 👏👏 #creditwhereitsdue — Matt Le Tissier (@mattletiss7) March 9, 2015 And in a season when referees have been taking a real hammering – a superb performance from Michael Oliver under great pressure. — Phil McNulty (@philmcnulty) March 9, 2015 Who needs video refs? Just find a few more Michael Oliver's and we'll be alright. Best performance by a ref in a long time. Hats off. — Didi Hamann (@DietmarHamann) March 9, 2015 8. Adnan Januzaj loves a dive. He was starting to get a bit of a reputation last season and it’s coming back now, with his seventh booking of the season. Obviously not all are for diving, but it seems Ashley Young might be having a bigger impact on the youngster than he thinks. Is there a pool at the Stretford End? #MUFCvAFC — Kay Burley (@KayBurley) March 9, 2015 9. Danny Murphy has the whole nation confused. (Daniel Hambury/PA) It seems that nobody’s quite sure what to think about Danny Murphy. Is he a good co-commentator, is he a bad one? We didn’t realise the line was so blurred. Maybe the answer is that he’s a human being and is capable of being good in one moment and bad in another? Nah, we didn’t think that would satisfy you. Lovely change of mind mid sentence from danny murphy there — Matt Le Tissier (@mattletiss7) March 9, 2015 Danny Murphy has spent 90 minutes arguing with himself. — Marc Duffy (@MarcSDuffy) March 9, 2015 Is Danny Murphy pulling his opinions out of a Tombola? — Paul Barnett (@paulbarnett1) March 9, 2015 Is there a red button that ejects Danny Murphy from his seat? — TomMellor (@MellorFootball) March 9, 2015 Danny Murphy says "I'll tell you what" And then doesn't. I don't think he's very good at this co-commentator game to be honest. — chalkontheboots (@chalkontheboots) March 9, 2015 Danny Murphy criticising Luke Shaw for not changing the laws of gravity #MUFC — ZippyPenguin (@Zippy_Penguin) March 9, 2015 Danny Murphy just did the thing I always hope co-comms will do which is admit they are wrong on seeing a replay. — Paul (@UtdRantcast) March 9, 2015 Thought Danny Murphy did a good job on commentary too today — Adam (@AdAllton97) March 9, 2015 BBC need to use Danny Murphy more – excellent analysis all game! #TalksSense — Matt Carrington (@MCarrington82) March 9, 2015 Superb analysis by Danny Murphy @BBCSport — David English (@daveenglishad) March 9, 2015 Hats off to Michael Oliver on his MOM performance tonight. Fine punditry from Danny Murphy in the commentary box too. Oh and bye bye Man U! — Ady Fry (@AdyFry1) March 9, 2015

Source: SNAPPA