IT'S ALL OVER! POINTS HAVE BEEN SHARED. WHAT A TURNAROUND TO THE MATCH, THANKS TO GIROUD. Three back-to-back drawn games at home for Manchester United.
Points table update: United stay 6th with 19 points from 12 games, while Arsenal move to the third position for a little time. They have 25 points from 12 games.
Giroud’s late header rescues a point for the Gunners #MUNARS pic.twitter.com/ERmsVktmkK
— Premier League (@premierleague) November 19, 2016
So, that's all from me for this game. Do join me for some next sporting event's live blog. Till then, keep checking back to IBTimes India for all the latest sports news. This is Sayantan signing off. Happy weekend, folks!
90 (+2)' Xhaka and Rooney go into the referee's book now.
89' OH WAAAITTT! IT'S NOT OVER! OLIVIER GIROUD WITH THE EQUALISER! A FRESH CHAMBERLAIN CROSSES THE BALL INSIDE THE BALL TO THE LANKY FRENCHMAN, WHO HEADS HOME POWERFULLY.
SCORES LEVEL!
Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal
87' As the clock keeps ticking, what can Arsene Wenger's army come up with? Wenger has a poor poor record against Mourinho and the way it looks now, no hope might be in sight for the Frenchman when it comes to his head 2 head record with the Portuguese coach.
Additional time: 4 minutes.
84' Final changes from both teams:
Arsenal: Chamberlain comes on for Jenkinson.
Man Utd: The goalscorer Mata leaves the field for Schneiderlin.
80' Ten minutes to go for this match to end. What can Arsenal come up with? Meanwhile, here is an interesting dose of news coming in at the moment:
Yaya Toure is in the starting line-up for Manchester City against Crystal Palace!! Who saw it coming? Daaang...
For Arsenal, Francis Coquelin makes way for Granit Xhaka.
73' Giroud comes on for Elneny. Can the tall Frenchman get the equaliser for Arsenal now? The Gunners do need some really good firepower upfront at the moment.
69' GOOOOOAAAAALLLL! JUAN MATA BREAKS THE DEADLOCK. Complete Spanish magic there.
Herrera plays a beautiful pass to Mata who slots it in powerfully into the goal, well past Cech!!
Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal
Mata does pick up a yellow card there for celebrating too much, but he definitely won't mind that!
68' Okay, this should come as a good news for the Manchester United fans. The home team are once again gelling well and playing oodles of passes in their attacking third.
63' HE'S HERE!
Anthony Martial makes way for Wayne Rooney.
Daley Blind comes on for Matteo Darmian.
62' Great deal of possession being enjoyed by the teams at the moment but for some reason, the penetration can not be found. Can fresh players change the game now?
Score: 0-0
58' Okay, so Wayne Rooney is warming up now as the game has got a bit out of direction now. Can Wazza turn out to be the saviour now? Mourinho is giving some last minute tips to the veteran Englishman. Can we see him help break the deadlock now?
56' Valencia the winger > Valencia the defender? What do you think guys....
Tweet your thoughts to @san_footy!
53' The veteran Michael Carrick takes a shot on goal but wide..... A very underrated player for Manchester United. Unfortunately, this is the midfielder's final season with the Red Devils. One of the best United players...
50' Chance! Nice build-up again by Manchester United! And it's that terrific trio again: Martial - Rashford - Pogba.
48' No substitutions as yet by either side. Here are the 11 players on field currently...
Man Utd XI: De Gea; Valencia, Jones, Rojo, Darmian; Carrick (C), Herrera; Mata, Pogba, Martial; Marcus Rashford.
Arsenal XI: Cech; Jenkinson, Mustafi, Koscielny (C), Monreal; Coquelin, Elneny; Ramsey, Ozil, Walcott; Alexis Sanchez.
The big players on the bench:
Man Utd: Wayne Rooney, Daley Blind.
Arsenal: Olivier Giroud, Granit Xhaka.
7:05 pm IST: Under way for the next 45 minutes.
6:50 pm IST: Half time! STORY OF THE HALF: Some stunning saves from the veteran Petr Cech and some impressive build ups by Manchester United from the attacking third.
Possession wise, it's very even. But attacking wise, it's United all the way. David de Gea had no saves to make at all so far. The only attacking hope for Arsenal so far: Alexis Sanchez.
Join us in 15 minutes for the most crucial half of the match. Meanwhile, you can tweet your thoughts from the match to me @san_footy. Waiting to here....
Some fine goalkeeping by Petr Cech keeps the score level at the break #MUNARS pic.twitter.com/xQJrZUSCd7
— Premier League (@premierleague) November 19, 2016
Additional time: 1 minute.
41' MARTIAALLL!!!!! Pogba - Herrera - Martial! What an effort from the Frenchman. Cech just gets a finger tip on the ball. That could have been the opening goal, hands down!
And yet again by Martial, but this time, a comfortable safe by Cech. Clearly, Manchester United are dominating the attacking index.
39' Good try! Elneny with a shot on goal but it goes wide. No pressure for De Gea yet.
36' MAAATAAA! Brilliant ball in from Martial to Mata. The Spaniard takes the shot on goal and Petr Cech just manages to parry it away! Two former Chelsea teammates....
35' NO PENALTY!!! Mourinho in disbelief..... Antonio Valencia is tripped (was he?) inside the box by Nacho Monreal and Andre Marriner signals play to be on!
29' Deadlock not yet broken, but the attacking intent from the teams is no less. For those joining in now, don't fret as no goal has been scored yet. The match is very evenly poised.
Score: 0-0
STREAMING LIVE HERE.....
25' Matteo Darmian gets into the referee's BOOK for a foul on Theo Walcott. More yellow cards to come?
22' Arsenal trying to keep the ball more with themselves in an effort to frustrate the home side and make a surgical strike right on time. Typical Arsene Wenger philosophy!
Meanwhile, RIO has spoken......
Come on @ManUtd make my start to the day a good one perlease! I can't have us getting beat today....
— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) November 19, 2016
18' Martial takes a curling shot on goal from a distance and the ball is straight into the hands of Cech. Deadlock not yet broken.
CHAAANCE! Great build up by United down the right wing and Rashford's cross inside the box just misses Pogba's head.
16' Okay, here is something we haven't seen so far. Alexis Sanchez gets the first BOOKING of the match for a foul on Herrera.
12' Good run down the wing by Antonio Valencia.... Been months that we have seen a good run form the Ecuadorian down the wing. His cross, however, is just cleared away by the Arsenal defence!
On the other end, nice counterattack by Wenger's men. This is neck to neck already.
8' Aaaand Arsenal seem to have taken control of the game already. United on the backseat now! Score: 0-0
6' Arsenal have mostly defended so far and thanks to Alexis Sanchez, the Gunners could slowly start attacking now.
CHANCE! Sanchez comes close with a header!
4' United have already started off brightly and the likes of Martial, Rashford and Pogba are already showing their attacking intent from the very start. Mourinho taking notes too on the sidelines. The home side have an upper hand already!
CHANCE! Juan Mata with a free-kick, and daaang, that's close! Maaan!
2' No real chances so far, but Anthony Martial has been good already with his runs down the wing. This will only heat up as it progresses!
6 pm IST: WE HAVE KICKED OFF!
5:58 pm IST: Lest we forget, the man in the centre of it all is Andre Marriner (Mr. referee)! Hope he gets his decisions right ;)
5:55 pm IST: Okay guys, THE PLAYERS ARE OFFICIALY INSIDE THE OLD TRAFFORD FIELD. Moments away from kick off! STREAMING LIVE HERE.....
We've put a question for you guys...
DO YOU THINK MOURINHO CAN EMULATE THE RIVALRY SIR ALEX FERGUSON SHARED WITH WENGER?
Tweet your whacky answers to @san_footy.
5:45 pm IST: We know those who don't have Star Sports Select HD right now are frustrated as anything. Fret not, we have a SOLUTION for that too.
And yes, do keep this page open, whatever you are doing. You don't wanna miss on the updates, do you!
ICYMI: The starting XI...
Man Utd XI: De Gea; Valencia, Jones, Rojo, Darmian; Carrick (C), Herrera; Mata, Pogba, Martial; Marcus Rashford.
Arsenal XI: Cech; Jenkinson, Mustafi, Koscielny (C), Monreal; Coquelin, Elneny; Ramsey, Ozil, Walcott; Alexis Sanchez.
The big players on the bench:
Man Utd: Wayne Rooney, Daley Blind.
Arsenal: Olivier Giroud, Granit Xhaka.
5:35 pm IST: A question for all those joining in now...
DO YOU THINK MOURINHO CAN EMULATE THE RIVALRY SIR ALEX FERGUSON SHARED WITH WENGER?
Tweet your whacky answers to @san_footy.......Just about anything!
5:30 pm IST: The countdown to kickoff has begun! Just minutes away from seeing the handshake between Mourinho and Wenger......But will it happen??? That remains the big question now!
Remember this?
5:25 pm IST: In India, the match is having a 6pm kickoff. So, we request you to call on your friends right away and ask them to catch up with this page. Live updates coming now and then. Ensuring you won't be disappointed.
Meanwhile, the team news are below and yes, do send in your tweets @san_footy with the hashtag #MUNARS for further interaction with me!
Meanwhile, check out the TALE OF THE TAPE: JOSE MOURINHO VS ARSENE WENGER....
5:20 pm IST: For those just tuning in, fret not, we still have some more 20 odd minutes to go for the match to start. The line ups are revealed and you can find them below!
5:10 pm IST: Less than an hour to go, let us get down to business right away! We have the team sheets here and yeah, as expected, no Wayne Rooney or Zlatan Ibrahimovic (suspended) in the starting XI for Manchester United. For Arsenal, Alexis Sanchez starts up front, while Aaron Ramsey is BACK!
Man Utd XI: De Gea; Valencia, Jones, Rojo, Darmian; Carrick (C), Herrera; Mata, Pogba, Martial; Marcus Rashford.
Arsenal XI: Cech; Jenkinson, Mustafi, Koscielny (C), Monreal; Coquelin, Elneny; Ramsey, Ozil, Walcott; Alexis Sanchez.
5:05 pm IST: Nerves, nerves and a lot more nerves. That is what happens when we look forward to one of the best rivalries in football. The action might be at Old Trafford this super Saturday, but hey, viewers around the world can also tune in to this game on their TV and tablets.
Those who are outside and find the net a bit tad slow to stream it live, well, we have the live blog of Manchester United vs Arsenal right here for you guys. Sayantan here, back once again, for giving you all the updates from the mouthwatering EPL 2016-17 game! Btw, I'm still waiting to get more feedback about my live coverage of UFC 205 from India.
Yeah, I am disappointed, but fret not, you can still tweet me your thoughts on this match @san_footy :) So pick up your phones and start tweeting, and follow this page, as I try my best to take you to Old Trafford in terms of coverage. Happy Saturday, folks. THE ACTION BEGINS NOW!
