United took the lead near the end of the first half with a goal by Wayne Rooney that was ironically deflected into the net by Gallas. However soon after the second half begun, Cesc Fabregas got the equalizer for Arsenal after being left completely wide open in front of goal to knock the ball into the net past Rio Ferdinand standing on the line.
Manchester United must have thought they had won the game near the end when Cristiano Ronaldo tapped in a goal after an pass from Patrice Evra (after a imaginative pass by Louis Saha). The United fans were ecstatic and soon were singing “Stand up for the champions.”
Just when everyone thought that Man United had wrapped up the 2-1 away win, William Gallas volleyed the ball into the net after a goalmouth scramble. For Arsenal, the 2-2 scoreline was well deserved after a close match between both sides.
Apart from the exciting finale to the match, the game failed to live up to the hype. The first half was largely uneventful except for Gallas almost scoring on a header from a Fabregas free kick and the aforementioned goal by Rooney late in the first half.
The action in the second half picked up considerably as more space opened up for both sides especially in midfield. However, there were far too many speculative shots from the 35 yards territory (Anderson, Fabregas, Rosicky, etc).
For United, Giggs surprisingly had a poor match where his lack of control was completely evident on numerous occasions — which is so unlike him.
Overall, though, while the game lacked a lot of style, the excitement level was there, which leaves the Premier League title race completely wide open.
