Without really hitting top gear Manchester United defeated a disappointing Arsenal 1-0 at Old Trafford to leapfrog the Gunners at the top of the table. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will not have been impressed with his team's showing as they rarely troubled United, who themselves were rarely extended.
They could even afford the luxury of missing second half penalty from Wayne Rooney who blazed the ball wide after Gael Clichy had been harshly adjudged to have handled.
The Reds have now won ten of their last eleven meetings against Arsenal and the scorer of the only goal this time was Ji-Sung Park.
The South Korean's athletic header just before the break proved decisive as Arsenal's impressive keeper Wojciech Szczesny was finally beaten.
The Gunners best efforts fell to Marouane Chamakh, who missed with a header and had a shot blocked by Nemanja Vidic, but overall this was performance, apart from the keeper, in which few of the visiting players enhanced their reputation.
Referee: Howard Webb
Venue: Old Trafford Attendance: 75,227
Man Utd scorers: Park 41 Arsenal scorers:
MAN UTD 01 Van der Sar 03 Evra 05 Ferdinand 15 Vidic 21 Rafael Da Silva 08 Anderson (Giggs 85) 13 Park Ji-Sung 16 Carrick 17 Nani 24 Fletcher 10 Rooney
Substitutes 29 Kuszczak, 06 Brown, 12 Smalling, 11 Giggs, 09 Berbatov, 14 Hernandez, 26 Obertan
ARSENAL 53 Szczesny 03 Sagna 06 Koscielny 18 Squillaci 22 Clichy 07 Rosicky (Fabregas 64) 08 Nasri (yellow card) 17 A Song (yellow card) 19 Wilshere (Van Persie 64) 23 Arshavin (yellow card) (Walcott 77) 29 Chamakh (yellow card)
Substitutes 21 Fabianski, 20 Djourou, 04 Fabregas, 14 Walcott, 15 Denilson, 10 Van Persie, 52 Bendtner
