Arséne Wenger’s farewell to Old Trafford as Arsenal manager would have been an emotional one. Mixed emotions, that is, as he will no longer have to watch his side suffer any more of the humiliations handed out over the years which included a 6-1 and an 8-2 defeat.
He will also not be celebrating winning his first game there as he did in 1998 when Marc Overmars scored the winner or clinching the title there as he did in 2002 when Sylvain Wiltord scored the only goal and his team went on to win the double.
There was “Pizzagate” in 2004 when Cesc Fabregas, apparently, threw a pizza in the tunnel after the game. There is no proof he actually threw it at Sir Alex Ferguson but that is precisely who it hit!
This time there was no pressure on the game. The result, for Arsenal in particular, was largely irrelevant. Wenger’s glory days are long gone and indeed, in Europe, never really existed.
It is, therefore, ironic that his concentration, for the bulk of this season, has been to try and win the Europa League in a last-ditch attempt to get his club back into the Champion’s League. It is also rather ironic that, should he succeed, which is very unlikely, it will all be for the benefit of a new manager.
So Arséne, for once on a trip to Manchester, could just sit back, soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the game.
He could have a chat with his mate, ex-United manager Fergie who, at one time, he would only refer to as “that man”.
He could also enjoy a glass of wine with his new BFF, José Mourinho, whilst being regaled with tales of the Portuguese’s excellent managerial record, how many trophies he has won and why he is always right! (José’s favourite subject is José!).
The best of friends pretend to disagree during Mourinho’s time at Chelsea
After all that, he could board the bus and return to London with his players, having had a memorable day out in Manchester.
His memorable day began with a brief view of the Europa League trophy in a “let’s have a look at what you could have won” moment reminiscent of Bullseye!
He was than given a keepsake of some description by Sir Alex Ferguson, obviously acting on behalf of Manchester United, during which time the fans applauded politely, as they do.
The fans were applauding again not too long afterwards when Paul Pogba scored the first goal!
However, despite a little huffing and plenty of puffing United were unable to add to their goal and went in at half-time leading 1-0.
In the second half Arsenal were pretty quick to equalise through Henrikh Mkhitaryan and, at this point, United seemed clueless as to what to do.
They remained clueless until the 91st minute when Marouane Fellaini who, until then had specialised in conceding free-kicks, headed in at the far post and a poor performance was rewarded with a 2-1 win.
Meanwhile, in London…..
Fernandinho celebrates scoring City’s fourth goal
David Moyes, another with unfortunate connections to Manchester United, was busy preparing his team to be the latest in a long line of teams trying to stop Manchester City picking up three points.
For West Ham United the win was much more important than it was for City. They sit in 15th position only three points off the relegation places whereas City, as everybody is aware, are already champions.
Pep Guardiola, however, despite his remarks to the contrary, does want to achieve the season’s points record for his team. He also wants the goalscoring record for his team because, whatever he says, these are the type of achievements which drive him on. These are what he lives for and are why he gets out of bed every morning.
In a reasonably entertaining first half West Ham actually managed to score three goals and, had two of them not been own goals, they would have had a comforatble lead at half-time. As it was, they trailed 1-2.
The second half saw City decide to get involved in the scoring and goals from Gabriel Jesus and Fernandinho gave them a very comfortable 1-4 victory.
And finally…..
Burnley in the Europa League? Easy, according to Antonio Conte. (So it must have been even easier with Chelsea!)
Congratulations to Sean Dyche and the boys at Burnley for qualifying for the Europa League next season. They may even, at some stage of the competition, play Chelsea whose manager was at pains to point out how easy it is to manage a team like Burnley compared with his lot.
Well, of course it is Antonio. Having seemingly unlimited resources, some of the best players in the world and a pretty large fan base must be so frustrating at times.
Somehow though, we don’t see you taking a job at a smaller club, or one in the lower divisions either here, or in Italy, so it can’t be THAT easy!
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 
May not like the man OR the team but respect where it’s due.
Awesome achievements only bettered by Ferguson.
Made that bunch of swamp rats look good for many years.
LikeLike