Missed opportunity as trophy pressure grows on Arteta

Mikel Arteta's 200th Premier League game as Arsenal manager was not so much a celebration as a wake for another title challenge that fell short.

Arsenal's nearly men produced another nearly performance in the 1-1 draw at Manchester United, a display that was so much of their season in microcosm, leaving them needing binoculars to see Liverpool, who lead the table by 15 points.

The Gunners weaved pretty patterns around Old Trafford with their 68.2% possession, but barely landed a serious blow on a United side short on quality and shorn of confidence until Declan Rice's crisp 74th-minute strike levelled Bruno Fernandes' trademark free-kick, which came in first-half stoppage time.

Arsenal have been fading for weeks, the failure to sign a recognised striker exposed as a flawed strategy, with injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz compounding the absence of key figure Bukayo Saka.

And their failed transfer policy came into sharp relief at Old Trafford when, with Arteta's side needing a winning goal to keep even their wafer-thin title chances alive, he turned to full-back Kieran Tierney, who is leaving for Celtic at the end of the season, rather than forward Raheem Sterling.

Sterling was a last-minute signing in the summer transfer window on loan from Chelsea, but has been unable to make any impact.

It appeared to be an Arteta vanity project as he believed he could revive a career that had come to a dead halt at Stamford Bridge, where Sterling was marginalised by manager Enzo Maresca, despite working with him during more successful times at Manchester City.

If proof of the deal's failure was needed, this was it. It was a bad fit when Arsenal desperately needed a goalscorer.

The sight of midfielder Mikel Merino labouring as an emergency striker to no effect emphasised how Arsenal had left that key position to the fates and lost.

Arteta admitted as much as he said: "The efficiency we had in the last 20 metres wasn't good enough. We know that.

"To come to Old Trafford and do what we did is superb, but you have to capitalise and we didn't. We then had to try to overturn the result after going behind and you know how difficult that is here."

This does not take into account Arsenal had 48 hours more to prepare for this game than Manchester United, who played away to Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday, and have injury problems of their own.

Arsenal, who won 7-1 at PSV in their Champions League last-16 first leg tie on Tuesday, had these factors in their favour but were still not good enough to cash in.

A disappointed Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta after his side's Premier League title chase faltered again at Manchester United

Arteta, by most measures, has improved Arsenal and been successful. The only gauge that matters at a club of their stature, though, is the tangible success of trophies and he still only has their 2020 FA Cup success to show for his progress.

This is not to suggest the Spaniard has been a failure. Far from it.

Arteta, understandably, retains the complete faith of the Arsenal hierarchy as he has moved them in the right direction. And it is expected he will soon be working with a new sporting director in Andrea Berta, who is to succeed Edu after the Italian left the same position with Atletico Madrid in January.

In his first 200 matches, Arteta has 119 wins, the fifth highest tally of any manager in that amount of Premier League games.

And since his appointment in succession to Unai Emery in 2019, only Pep Guardiola, his mentor at Manchester City when he was assistant manager there, has more victories and points in the Premier League.

Arteta also has eight more wins than Arsene Wenger achieved when he hit the mark of 200 top-flight matches.

Arsenal can also consider themselves live contenders for the Champions League, with a quarter-final place virtually assured after their spectacular away win at PSV.

It does mean, however, the pressure is increasing on Arteta to deliver a trophy that has eluded him for five years – if not this season, then certainly next.

Arsenal needed a miraculous injury-time save by keeper David Raya from Bruno Fernandes to prevent defeat at Manchester United

Arsenal must consider this season's title race a missed opportunity after running Manchester City close in the last two campaigns - only to stumble near the finishing line. City's unforeseen collapse opened the door to their rivals, but it is Arne Slot's Liverpool who have stepped through it, while the Gunners faltered once more.

Liverpool's relentless march has seen them ease away from Arsenal, who have fallen away to such an extent that even the subdued reception from players and supporters in a corner of Old Trafford after the final whistle carried a resigned air.

They know the game is up.

Asked if the title race is over in the press conference, having walked out when asked the same question by Sky Sports, the Arsenal boss said: "I don't want to say that, but today the frustration is that we haven't won a game.

"We know the urgency and we are obligated to win every single match if you want to have any chance of doing that. I don't think it's the right moment to talk about that anyway."

While it is effectively meaningless in the wider title context, it could have been even worse for Arsenal.

Goalkeeper David Raya was culpable for Fernandes' opener, positioning himself too far to his right, allowing the Portuguese midfielder to show his expertise by planting the free-kick perfectly as the Spaniard scrambled away in vain to his left.

Raya, however, made amends with two superb second-half saves from Noussair Mazraoui and Joshua Zirkzee, before a miraculous moment in the dying seconds. Having first blocked a shot from Fernandes, Raya somehow regained his position to claw the ball away from right on the line as a dramatic late United winner looked certain.

In between, it took a magnificent saving tackle from goalscorer Rice to rob United substitute Rasmus Hojlund as he raced into the area with only Raya to beat.

It will not make much difference to the destiny of the title. It simply emphasised that Arsenal's impotence at one end leaves them increasingly vulnerable at the other.

And this reflects badly on Arteta and Arsenal's recruitment team, who failed to address an obvious problem up front last summer.

As he moves on from his managerial landmark, the urgency is growing to mark his progress in the manner that matters most.

That is by actually winning a trophy.