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One of the most interesting and persistent matches of the season on Tuesday, London's Arsenal met with the "Man Utd" club, but the match was not the usual battle between two teams fighting for the title. This time, neither team managed to take advantage of the opportunities to score, and the match ended in a goalless draw.
0 - 0
Although after losing to "Chelsea" in the London derby, "Arsenal" practically lost hope of fighting for the first place, the "Gunners" could have damaged the chances of "Man Utd" occupying the second place in the championship standings at their own "Highbury" stadium.
The hosts had a stronger start to the match, and in the 10th minute, young Arsenal defender Cesc Fabregas came close to scoring, but his shot from the penalty area missed wide. Eight minutes later, Robert Pires threatened the Man Utd goal, but his attempt to score in the corner was blocked by Edwin Van der Sar.
Later in the game, Arsenal's counterattack led to a shot against Gary Neville, and Man Utd responded with an inaccurate attempt from distance by Ryan Giggs that surprised Jens Lehmann but missed the goal.
The game became more tense, and both teams struggled to get close to each other's goals, but it was a "quiet before the storm." At the very end of the first half, the visitors had the best opportunity to score - after Ruud van Nistelrooy's shot was saved by J. Lehmann, the ball bounced closest to Cristiano Ronaldo, but he failed to hit the target and shot over the goal.
In the beginning of the second half, after a mistake by John O'Shea, Thierry Henry had a chance to score, but his shot was blocked by Rio Ferdinand, while on the other side, in the 56th minute, Ryan Giggs had a free shot on goal after a pass by Cristiano Ronaldo but rushed and shot wide. Soon after, Arsenal's Gilberto Silva tried to score, but he was disturbed by Wes Brown.
After an hour of play, a mistake by K. Toure allowed Ruud van Nistelrooy to enter the penalty area, but his shot missed wide. A few minutes later, after a corner kick and a head pass by Cristiano Ronaldo, Man Utd's Dutch legionnaire was sent from close range, but Alexander Hleb intervened.
The match continued, and the action moved to the visitors' goal - after a beautiful combination from the "Gunners," T. Henry broke towards the goal and passed the ball to R. Pires, but his shot was saved by E. van der Sar. Soon after, C. Fabregas fell in the penalty area while trying to take the ball from G. Neville, and the referee hesitated to give a penalty kick, the ball ended up with T. Henry, but he also missed the target.
Dangerous attacks moved to the other side of the field again, and after a substitution, Park Ji-Sung's shot went over the goal, and G. Neville managed to reach a pass from W. Rooney at the far post but sent it wide of the goal from the other side.
At the end of the match, Man Utd could have snatched the victory, but a header by W. Brown was cleared from the goal line by Emmanuel Eboue. Both teams failed to score, so the match ended with a not very useful draw, which the "Chelsea" club, which already has a 13-point lead over the closest pursuers, can be most pleased with.
