Unai Emery’s side started the brighter of the two and took the lead in bizarre circumstances as Xhaka’s long-range effort wrong-footed David de Gea, who was left on his knees as the ball bounced past his right.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s unbeaten record in the league is over, after two months and 22 days.
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United had their fair share of chances but Arsenal were clinical when it mattered, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang passing his penalty down the middle of David de Gea’s goal after Granit Xhaka caught the goalkeeper by surprise to give the hosts an early lead.
A brilliant reaction by Arsenal after a miserable defeat in Rennes on Thursday. Victory makes it nine consecutive home wins in the league for Unai Emery.
Speaking after the game, Neville picked out Arsenal’s front two as the main men in a vital win for Arsenal which gives them a two-point lead in fourth on United.
“Lacazette won the penalty – I personally didn’t think it was a penalty, but there’s no doubt Lacazette was clever,” the former United captain said on his self-titled podcast. “He just stepped in front of Fred with a little burst of speed, and then he went over as he felt the contact.
“They won the game. Lacazette and Aubameyang being on the pitch won the game for Arsenal.
“You point towards that first half an hour, Lacazette and Aubameyang got the better of [Chris] Smalling and [Victor] Lindelof.
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“I point back to my experience under Sir Alex Ferguson. He used to say ‘if your centre—halves haven’t got hold of the opposition centre-forwards, you’ve always got a real problem in a game’.
“It was a case of which goalkeeper played best and which strikers took their chances, and Arsenal won that.”
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