“You’re not special any more,” the Arsenal fans sang to Jose Mourinho as he stood on the touchline, hands in pockets.

To Arsene Wenger, he will always be special, if only for the hurt he has inflicted. This was the 14th competitive fixture in which Wenger and Mourinho have faced each other and, like the 13 that had gone before them, Arsenal did not win. This game, too, should have been lost.

If confronting Mourinho was one thing, facing him at Old Trafford was another. Before kick-off, Sky Sports showed images of Wenger in this corner of Greater Manchester.

Sometimes he was gesticulating, once he was standing on the top of the dug-out protesting about being sent off. Mostly he was sighing, sometimes Pat Rice was beside him, other times it was Steve Bould. There would be occasional glances towards the scoreboard. Once it read 6-1. Another time it was 8-2.

This time it was 1-1 and the image the camera held of the Arsenal manager was of him giving the chill November air a gentle punch with a wry grin creasing his face. He had been something he has rarely been at Old Trafford – lucky. In the post-match press conference, Jose Mourinho referred to it as a “defeat”. “It feels like I finally lost to Arsenal,” he said as he turned to leave.

It would, Wenger said with a smile, be ‘pretentious’ to say that the equaliser, created by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and finished off by Olivier Giroud, was the result of inspired substitutions.



Giroud’s header that levelled the scores was Arsenal’s first and only attempt on target and it came in the 89th minute. Given that injuries had forced Mourinho to field Marcos Rojo and Matteo Darmian, who would not be many people’s first choice, in defence, this was an even worse statistic than it might appear.

If you judge Giroud only by his statistics, then he is one of the finer strikers of the Wenger era. The header that met Oxlade-Chamberlain’s cross was his 60th league goal for the club in 139 matches. It is not quite at Thierry Henry’s level but a goal every 2.3 matches is a pretty fair number, especially for a forward who has now scored more goals as a substitute than any other Arsenal player in the Premier League.

Before the game, Mourinho had complained that, compared to Wenger, he was shown insufficient respect by the English media. He will in his own mind be fated forever to be Saruman to Wenger’s Gandalf, although had they waited as long to find the Ring of Power as Arsenal have for a league title, Frodo and Co would still be tramping around the mountains of Mordor.

Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings David de Gea - 5 A very uncharacteristic error for Mustafi’s opener, bizarrely befuddled by the bounce of the downward header. Somewhat atoned with some typically solid saves in the second half. AFP/Getty Images Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Eric Bailly - 6 A welcome returnee who stood up strongly at times. Could perhaps have shepherded youthful cohort Dalot outside him slightly better. Action Images via Reuters Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Chris Smalling - 6 Solid in the middle of the defensive three. Getty Images Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Marcos Rojo - 5 Regardless of whether it is his own goal or marked as Lacazette’s, a very poor error to allow the Frenchman the chance. REUTERS Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Diogo Dalot - 5 Very little impact on the game. One particularly lacklustre moment getting forward from right back but looking lost with so much time, wasting a chance to cross. Sead Kolasinac had some joy down Dalot’s channel. Getty Images Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Ander Herrera - 6 Showed alertness to retrieve and cut back for Martial to score, though could have been flagged offside. Combative otherwise. Action Images via Reuters Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Nemanja Matic - 7 Broke up play well and set the tone for Manchester United’s performance. A good showing. AFP/Getty Images Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Matteo Darmian - 6 Little of note either way. He and Bellerin seemed to cancel each other out, rather. EPA Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Jesse Lingard - 6 Took his goal nicely. Quiet elsewhere on a scrappy night. AFP/Getty Images Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Anthony Martial - 7 A birthday goal after following up a free kick well, before trudging off injured just after the hour mark. EPA Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Marcus Rashford - 6 Hit his free kick nicely to force Leno into the initial save EPA Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Bernd Leno - 5 Leno could perhaps have done better with Rashford’s free kick in the lead up to Martial’s leveller, and didn’t cover himself in glory for Lingard’s either. Getty Images Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Shkodran Mustafi - 6 A decent header down into the ground for his goal, though a huge helping hand from David De Gea. PA Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Sokratis Papastathopoulos - 6 Stout defensively for much of the 90 minutes. EPA Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Rob Holding - 5 Stretchered off after 36 minutes with a serious looking injury. Having found some form, a real shame for Arsenal. REUTERS Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Hector Bellerin - 6 As mentioned in Darmian’s rating, rather cancelled out. One sliced effort from the edge of the box. AFP/Getty Images Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Lucas Torreira - 6 Another spiky performance in midfield. He’s certainly added some much-needed bite, but ought to be careful not to go too far with his destructive duties. AFP Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Matteo Guendouzi - 6 Put himself about with energy and physicality. Not as accomplished a performance as we have seen from the young Frenchman, though not overawed by the big occasion by any means. Action Images via Reuters Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Lead Kolasinac - 5 An error to allow Lingard to equalise, and consistently wasteful despite often being the extra man over down Arsenal’s left. AP Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Aaron Ramsey - 6 Substituted at half time despite bravely trying to continue in real discomfort at the end of the first half. PA Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Alex Iwobi - 5 Missing the cutting edge. Plenty of graft, little to show for it. PA Manchester United vs Arsenal player ratings Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 6 Aubameyang will rue missing a good chance from close range in the second half flurry of action. AFP/Getty Images

Arsenal’s 20th season under Wenger is progressing like the 10 most recent. They have qualified from the group stages of the Champions League and there have been moments, such as the 3-0 defeat of Chelsea, when it appeared the old alchemy might be working. Then there are days like these.

For Mourinho there have already been too many of these kinds of results. For the third successive time a team that Manchester United would have backed themselves to have beaten at home left Old Trafford with a point. Arsenal’s record here is bad enough for them to be lumped in with Burnley and Stoke.

There was only one reason why Mourinho had been given the job he had so often craved and that is because he can be counted on to win. He did not check into his lonely suite in the Lowry Hotel to develop young footballers or for his charm as a front man. He guaranteed or appeared to guarantee success.

In the matches that matter, United have been well beaten by Manchester City and Chelsea and forced a barren draw at Liverpool. Here, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic suspended and Wayne Rooney in what looks like terminal decline, he fielded Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial up front.