MAYBE THE SCOUSER HAS A POINT

Just three points in it and the memory of that League victory at Old Trafford in December. Defeat leaves them with a psychological barrier and a sense of doubt that they will ever make up the distance on their rivals.

United still have a chance of winning the Premiership but know that they will probably have to rely on Arsenal slipping up. For the team vanquished in the FA Cup, the prospect of someone else beating Arsenal must seem a fairly distant possibility. The manner of the defeat, the ease with which Arsene Wenger's side controlled the game, will linger in their minds right up until the remaining Premiership game between the sides at Highbury on April 15.

At Old Trafford we waited for a surge, for something from Roy Keane or David Beckham or Ruud van Nistelrooy - some last sign of defiance at the second defeat to Arsenal at Old Trafford in nine months. And it never came. Because if you cannot get hold of the ball, then changing the direction of the game becomes impossible.

In December, the United team who had so many injuries and still beat Arsenal were all about aggression, all about disrupting the rhythm of Arsenal's play and denying them the space they needed. On Saturday it was all about Arsenal's dominance of possession and not even United can control the ball like Wenger's side.’