You always hope the matchup of the weekend lives up to its billing. You hope it's a fiesty fight with two quality squads playing beautiful football, scoring magnificent goals leading to a dramatic result. This match had all of that... for about 10 minutes. In what could have been a fantastic game, Arsenal outplayed United in every aspect, but couldn't come away with the result. United couldn't afford to drop any more early season points, and will be happy they got anything from this game.

In the early going the match was even, and for the first 35 minutes I dare to even say, boring. No one created a brilliant opportunity, and though Arshavin came excruciatingly close with his volley effort off the corner, it wasn't enough to rouse me from my seat. Then Arshavin controlled the ball in the United box, sidestepped a lunging Fletcher, and clearly got taken out. A sure-fire penalty....that Mike Dean did not call. However, unlike his Dutch counter part van Persie, who would have pouted and complained for the next five minutes, Arshavin hopped up, and a mere 24 seconds later drilled a scorcher into the upper corner of the United net, giving the Gunners a deserved 1 - 0 lead at the break.

United were in shambles. Their wings were useless and Rooney was hardly touching the ball, so there was no doubt Ferguson was unleashing the hairdryer treatment during the interval. The second half started out much better than the first, with Foster saving the United cause with an amazing save with his boot.

Then Giggs dispatched a perfectly weighted through ball to the streaking Rooney, who easily beat Almunia to it, however toed it into the Stretford end while getting taken out by the keeper. In my book, it's never a penalty, there are many things Rooney is: incredibly talented, strong, and a good goalscorer, but without black magic or a rocket strapped to his arse, there was no way he was catching up with the ball he punted into the crowd. Still, Dean, who has a history of giving out penalties rather freely (though he overlooked the clear one with Arshavin) handed United a way back into the match, and Rooney duly obliged, sending Almunia the wrong way.

A mere five minutes later Giggs was at it again. With a free kick well out of the danger zone, Giggs swung in a decent cross, but Diaby was by himself to clear... except instead of clearing it, he managed to shoot the ball into his own net. Replay after replay were shown, and not only was the young Frenchman unchallenged, but his head movement looks like he was trying to score, not trying to clear. It was a perfect striker's header, just at the wrong end.

As Arsenal pushed, United had a few opportunities, none of which they finished, and the defense weathered the storm to claim the victory, despite a last second scare where van Persie seemed to have scored, only for Gallas to have strayed offside in the buildup. A heartbreaking loss for an Arsenal side that deserved at least a point.

Other Notes:

- I'm not sure who had the better strike, Arshavin's wonder goal or Wenger's water bottle punt after van Persie's goal was called back. I did not know it was possible to kick a water bottle 30 yards. Still, sending Wenger off with no time left is over the top.

- Ferguson's jaw was hard at work again after Arshavin's strike. I'm not sure what it is, but every time I see the Scot going away at that gum, it looks like his head is about to explode.

- Eduardo was met with a coordinated chorus of "Cheat" and booed for his every touch....and rightly so. Meanwhile Eboue was carded for a similarly bad dive in the middle of the park.

Man of the Match: Despite the loss, the Constantly Offside MoM goes to William Gallas, who shut down wave after wave of the Red Devil's attacks, and distributed well from the back. The Gunner's leading scorer is the French defender, but he proved his defensive ability is still there today.

Ratings:

Manchester United

Foster 6.5 - The English keeper should have done much better with Arshavin's strike as he got caught rooted in his place, but his incredible save against van Persie is the only thing that kept United in this one.

Evra 6.5 - I don't like him, for obvious reasons, but he is a quality player, defended decently and got into advanced positions well.

Vidic 5.5 - Certainly not the Vidic of last season, he seemed disoriented and confused for much of the match, and didn't step to Arshavin when he unleashed his cannon.

Brown 5 - He's no Rio, and I think Evans is better than him as well, never seemed to get into this one, though with van Persie as the only striker he didn't have much to worry about.

O'Shea 5 - With no true winger on the Gunners left flank, O'Shea didn't have many defensive duties, but he doesn't do as well attacking as Evra does.

Carrick 3.5 - Pass after pass went straight to Arsenal, and the midfielder was making rash challenges and poor plays throughout the game, certainly doens't make a case for himself to be in the next squad.

Valencia 1 - Constantly Offside's Offside player of the game Valencia gets the honor of getting the lowest score to date given during a Constantly Offside Match Report. He was poor on the ball, he was poor off the ball, and United players looked uneasy giving him possession, they obviously miss Ronaldo, and so far Valencia is not the answer.

Nani 4 - He was creative sometimes, played a great ball through to Berbatov that should have given him an assist, but scuffed his own scoring opportunity.

Fletcher 3 - Should have been called for a penalty and gave the ball away a fair amount. I think Ferguson only rates him because he's Scottish, I think Fletcher is crap.

Giggs 7 - While he had a poor first half, the aged and experienced midfielder created both goals, rather indirectly, with a great through pass to Rooney who somehow managed to get a penalty and then the freekick that Diaby inexplicably placed into his own net. An inspired performance by a man who knows the importance of these matches.

Rooney 6 -Took his penalty well and was menacing throughout, but I think he needs a real strike partner to succeed, as Giggs playing off behind him doesn't seem to be a valid option.

Subs:

Park 6.5 - I really like Park, mainly because I have never seen him not play his heart out. The Korean never stops running.

Berbatov 1.5 - This rating is mainly in jest, because with the amount of time and space the Bulgarian had to finish his chance he could have stopped, had a cuppa tea, and then finished it, but instead he didn't just miss, he shanked it so badly it looked like he missed the ball entirely.

Arsenal

Almunia 6.5 - Neither of the goals were his fault, as the penalty should have never been given and the own goal has left us all scratching our heads. Did well to keep Arsenal in the game late though.

Clichy 6.5 - This kid is fast, and he managed to make Valencia look even worse than I thought was possible. Poor crosses into the box however.

Gallas 8.5 - An inspired performance from the Frenchman who looks to be returning to the form that he had as a Chelsea player. Stopped everything and had the presence of mind to distribute the ball crisply.

Vermaelen 7 - A presence in the air, he stopped many of United's attempted chips over the back line. Doesn't have the same poise on the ball as Gallas does, however.

Sagna 5 - Another player I don't much like, Sagna didn't have the best of games. He got forward well, but his defense was suspect and his crosses, like Clichy, were poor.

Diaby 4.5 - His rating should be higher, because he was the most threatening Arsenal attacker, but his own goal cost Arsenal the game, and he will have to do a lot of explaining to his squad after that one. Did manage to nutmeg a United player, and turned Evra around using my favorite move in the book (though I have no clue what it is called).

Song 6 - Somewhat fortunate not to be sent off in the first half I think, he had a few poor challenges after already having a card, but his control is solid in the middle.

Denilson 4.5 - Not his best match, never really got going and had a few poor give-aways. Right to be subbed by Wenger.

Arshavin 6.5 - His goal was incredible and I commend his ability to not complain after not getting a call. The best reaction is getting on with the game, and he took his chance superbly. However, he is awful defensively and incredibly out of shape apparently. No one in the premiership should ask for a sub before 90 minutes.

Eboue 5.5 - Not a strong performance from the Ivorian, again rightly subbed by Wenger right after his booking.

van Persie 6 - Was unfortuante to be denied at the end, though it was the right call. Had one chance well saved by Foster, and another off the crossbar, but was invisible for large portions of the match.

Subs:

Bendtner 6 - As cocky as he may be, the big man came in and provided a peach of a cross to Eduardo, who is apparently too short to be an aerial threat.

Eduardo 4 - Came on and was booed constantly. Good, he deserves it.

Ramsey 3 - Not exactly the situation you want to put your untested youngster into, his lack of experience was evident as he passed the ball blindly and gave it away a few times.

What was your take on the match? Think Arsenal was unfortunate? Let Chamo know.