That was really weird. Weird goals, weird performance, weird team selection, and - given the way the game had gone - a weird result. It’s very hard to convey a long scream of anguish and frustration into words so please bear with. 

An 8:15 KO northern away day is not a very pleasant experience, nor is it one that I’d particularly like to experience again. We set off around 1 o’clock, from Hitchin of course with Layth, and this time the other 50% of Left on Red Harry Costa, who made some time to lose his Old Trafford virginity.

Just in case anyone wants to give me any credit - if there were fitness tests for away days, I would’ve failed. I may not have even been training with the squad. A slipped (or bulged or something) disc in my back meant the day was agonising in more ways than just the result. 

A 6:30 arrival, and again we were blessed by Layth’s extensive knowledge of parking facilities as we parked up in a storage unit 10 minutes from the ground. 

Given the cold, we decided against walking the 20 minutes to Salford Quays to meet the rest of the Gooners and instead decided to get into the ground and soak it up. Our seats were fantastic, and despite the unimpressive outside of Old Trafford - I was absolutely blown away by the inside, more so than Anfield. Daunting stands, essentially going vertically up and never ending. Also, not that I drink but, £3 pints! Puts the Emirates and their near £7 ones to shame. It’s no wonder the concourse was absolutely buzzing, even about 45 minutes from kick off. Predominantly with chants of “We won the league, in Manchester” which are always enjoyable.

Kick off finally rolled around, and at this point we were all numb to the cold. Now if out-singing the Liverpool fans at Anfield was debatable, there was no debate at Old Trafford. The Arsenal faithful, right from the start, were absolutely rapturous in their support - and the United fans were no match. 

The squad responded to this atmosphere, and were absolutely dominant in the opening exchanges. This dominance was rewarded, but in extremely strange circumstances. Smith Rowe volleyed in after a cleared corner but the ref blew up just as the ball crossed the line as David De Gea was on the floor. No one knew what was going on in the crowd, and as De Gea was down everyone just assumed the pause was for the injury and the game would continue with a foul shortly. As De Gea rose to his feet, the referee blew and pointed to the centre circle. Goal given. As much as I was over the moon that we had scored, I spent most of the celebrations trying to keep up right and not completely collapse on my back… 

Despite the early dominance, we decided to turn to our usual ‘tactic’ of completely deflating and sitting back after going into the lead… United came onto us, but for the most part to no avail as our defence held strong. Tomiyasu in particular was very solid in keeping out both Sancho and Ronaldo, who made the occasional foray over to the left-hand side. 

The timing of United’s equaliser was an absolute killer. Having had little to no chances the whole half, a momentary switch off to allow Fernandes space in the box in the 44th minute was absolutely criminal. 1-1 at HT. The nerves, and the cold, made it a very unpleasant 15 minutes (not to mention my back, again).

As the second half began, I think the feeling was very much concede first and we will capitulate. One of those came true, not the double act that we feared it might be. The bad and the ugly (as opposed to the occasional good) of Nuno Tavares came out to play, as he attempted an unnecessarily risky pass to Emile Smith Rowe, leaving his left hand side vacant. Rashford picked out Ronaldo who, like Fernandes, had too much room in the box and was able to sweep home. 2-1 and Old Trafford was rocking. The Young Guns then showed some character that many, including the fans, didn’t think they had in them. A satisfyingly flowing move saw Ødegaard level the scores just two minutes after United took the lead. Again, absolute scenes in the - now quite wet - away end. 

We then dominated. “Total dominance” as Arteta referred to it. Unfortunately, lack of quality from the two most senior Arsenal  players on the pitch (Auba and Partey) and a frustrating lack of assertion from the rest of the squad meant this dominance wasn’t rewarded as it was in the first half. The performance was good enough for a win, a draw at the least. We would’ve got at least a point if it wasn’t for an infinitely frustrating individual error. Fred looked to pick up the ball in the box, and Odegaard decided that recklessly sliding in and taking him out was the best option. Despite not giving it under first review, the ref then stopped the game before going over to look at the monitor and inevitably pointing to the spot. Ronaldo smashed down the middle, and with twenty minutes to go Arsenal were again completely deflated. Despite the best efforts of the oncoming substitutes, there weren’t any further chances.

A draw would’ve been maddening, a defeat was absolutely incomprehensible. Is there a mental block playing for Arsenal, is it their youth? The lack of points away at the ‘big six’ is something that definitely needs sorting. 

We remain 1 point off the top 4 and, with Chelsea playing West Ham on the weekend, with a win against Everton on Monday we could easily find ourselves in that fourth spot. With Old Trafford, Anfield and the Etihad out the way - and a squad that no one pinned as good enough to be anywhere near the top four - one point off fourth in December is really not the end of the world. We have to pick up points against teams like Everton, Leicester etc and (if we lose the away games) we must start to pick up home points against the big six. Fourth is a possibility, top six is very realistic. At the beginning of the season no one would’ve expected either. 

We didn’t say it would be easy, and there inevitably will be bumps in the road. Arteta has this team playing good football though, and soon enough these losses will turn into invaluable learning experiences for this young squad. It turns out growing pains do really hurt. Everton on Monday, until then…