Arsenal 2 Fabregas, Gallas
Man United 2 Gallas OG, Ronaldo
It was a pulsating match. At 2-1 down and entering the stoppage time the headline of 'Arsenal Unbeaten Run Ends' has been flashing on my minds quite a number of time. However, the gut feeling was saying 'it is not over yet, we will get something in a moment'.
And when the melee in front of the goal was stopped by referee Howard Webb whistle with his hand pointing to the Arsenal goal, my first thought 'that was it, we blew our chance' until I heard the commentators said "he has given it!".
I raised my hands with joy the same way I did when Cesc Fabregas equalised at Anfield last week. The young Spaniard had another influential match in which he scored his eleventh goal in twelve matches so far.
The first half was a midfield battle where both sides shared possession almost equally. But it was the home side that created the most clear cut chance when captain William Gallas's header from a Fabregas free-kick was saved by goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar's legs.
Manu Adebayor headed wide from a Gael Clichy cross while at the other end Wayne Rooney was equally wasteful. However, the England striker played an influential role in nudging United in front just before the half-time whistle.
I thought Alex Hleb was fouled when he went down challenging Wes Brown. But Web did not see it that way and the Cristiano Ronaldo benefited from the decision. With the extra space he managed to deliver a low cross which Rooney and Gallas attacked.
Rooney's effort was heading across the goalmouth until it hit Gallas' hand and the deflection caught Manuel Almunia wrong-footed. Thus the Devils had the upper hand going into the break.
In true Arsenal fashion, the home side came storming back after the second half whistle was blown by Webb. Three minutes later, they were handsomely rewarded.
Despite having not score any goal since his hat-trick against Derby, Adebayor played a pivotal role in forcing Van Der Sar to come out as they went for Manu Eboue's ball into the United's box. The goalkeeper's clearance was snatched by Bacary Sagna who cut it back to Fabregas.
Despite the pressure, Fabregas remained composed before slotting the ball home from two metres out. A lesson learned after the error at Anfield last Sunday.
At 1-1, the match came alive. Both Hleb and Tomas Rosicky had attempts on goal but failed to find the target. With the clock ticking away both managers began to make changes through substitutions.
Alex Ferguson made the first one, replacing Wes Brown with John O'Shea. Four minutes later, Theo Walcott came on for Eboue, a substitution which I felt played a crucial role in United going a head again.
Further substitutions saw Michael Carrick and Louis Saha coming on for Anderson and Carlos Tevez for the visitors. Arsene Wenger decided to bring on Eduardo Da Silva and Gilberto for Rosicky and Hleb.
With seven minutes to go, Walcott failed to track Patrice Evra's run and the French defender drew Gallas and Almunia out. I felt the goalkeeper should have stayed within his goal as a defender was already going for the same ball.
As a result, the goal was left wide open for Ronaldo to tuck in the cut-back from Evra. Three minutes later, Evra nearly became the hero to Arsenal fans as he sliced a low cross from Eduardo just over his bar.
The Croatia striker, who scored twice against Sheffield United in midweek Carling Cup tie was presented with a similar opportunity but this time around his effort was off-target.
Then, with ninety seconds to go a continuous Arsenal pressure resulted in a scramble in front of the visitors' goalmouth. Gallas remained cool and composed when he received the ball at the far post.
His volley had already crossed the line when Van Der Sar palmed it away. Thanks to an eagle-eyed assistant referee who spotted the incident and indicated to Mr Webb who immediately blew and pointed to the centre circle, much to the delight of Gooners all over the world.
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