Arsenal 2 Manchester United 0: Watch highlights as Jose Mourinho’s unbeaten Premier League run with Red Devils comes to an end at the Emirates

MANCHESTER UNITED'S unbeaten record league run came to an abrupt end against Arsene Wenger at the Emirates this afternoon.

Quick-fire goals from Granit Xhaka and Danny Welbeck saw Arsenal secure a deserved 2-0 win to shatter Jose Mourinho's ultra-defensive tactics and boost their own chances of a top four finish.

United had not lost any of their last 25 matches following October's 4-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, although half of those results were draws.

Yet they were on the backfoot from the whistle as Mourinho made eight changes to the side which edged past Celta Vigo in the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday.

Axel Tuanzebe made his debut at right-back but was not afforded the luxury of charging forward like Antonio Valencia, effectively rendering United blunt in attack.

Wingers Juan Mata and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were at times deeper than their full-backs, allowing Arsenal to quickly take control and fire off a number of shots at David De Gea.

But despite both sides going in level at the break, it was the Gunners who found the breakthrough after 54 minutes.

Granit Xhaka unleashed a rocket of a shot from 30 yards out, and a wicked deflection by Ander Herrera saw the ball loop over De Gea even though he was stood on the line of his goalmouth.

However, Arsenal did not let up and managed to double their lead within two minutes when ex-Red Devil Welbeck headed home from a fine Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain cross.

Mourinho responded by throwing on Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford despite their midweek European heroics, with youngster Scott McTominay also making his first-ever appearance .

But United could not get on the scoresheet as their winless league run extended to three matches.

It means they remain four points behind fourth-place Manchester City and just two ahead of Arsenal, with the Londoners still with a game in-hand.

Mourinho said in the build-up to the match that victory in the Europa League was United's best chance of qualifying for the Champions League.

And based on this performance, it seems like a message his players were all too quick to take on board.

FACTS, STATS, GOALS AND LOLS

• ARSENE WENGER finally broke his Premier League duck against Jose Mourinho at the 13th attempt - with Manchester United old boy Danny Welbeck dealing the crushing blow.
• JOSE MOURINHO handed 19-year-old Axel Tuanzebe his Prem debut. At right-back, the Manchester United kid only had to look after Alexis Sanchez…
• MANCHESTER UNITED fans begun the taunts towards their bitter rivals just minutes into the clash with chants of “Oh, Robin van Persie!”
• JOSE MOURINHO made eight changes to the team which won 1-0 at Celta Vigo. With the likes of David De Gea and Juan Mata returning, it would be disrespectful to call it “weakened”.
• NEVER has an Arsenal vs Manchester United match meant less than it did today - and it showed in both sides’ underwhelming performances.

• IT took a surprisingly long 26 minutes for Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho to begin their cat calling, stemming from a mistimed Wayne Rooney tackle on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
• WAYNE ROONEY had a glorious chance to stretch his Prem scoring record against Arsenal to 12 had it not been for Petr Cech’s quick reactions 31 minutes in.
• JOSE MOURINHO does not much care for the technical area. Half the time he looks like he’s about to take a throw in. A complete contrast to Arsene Wenger, who gets up out of his seat.
• DANNY WELBECK was jeered by his former club after completely missing an overhead kick from yards out - while he was offside.
• THE England striker had the last laugh though, as he ran off celebrating after crashing home a header 57 minutes in.

THE BIG PICTURE

Arsenal remaining fixtures

Southampton (A): 10 May – Prem

Stoke (A): 13 May – Prem

Sunderland (H): 16 May – Prem

Everton (H): 21 May – Prem

Chelsea (N): 27 May – FA

Man Utd remaining fixtures

Celta Vigo (H): 11 May – EL

Tottenham (A): 14 May – Prem

Southampton (A): 17 May – Prem

Crystal Palace (H): 21 May – Prem

DREAM TEAM RATINGS

Arsenal: Cech 7, Holding 7, Koscielny 7, Monreal 6, Oxlade-Chamberlain 8 (Bellerin 6), Ramsey 7, Xhaka 7 (Coquelin 6), Gibbs 7, Ozil 7, Sanchez 6, Welbeck 7 (Giroud 6)

Subs not used: Gabriel, Ospina, Walcott, Iwobi

Goals: Xhaka 54’, Welbeck 56’

Booked: Koscielny

Man Utd: De Gea 5, Tuanzebe 6, Smalling 6, Jones 6, Darmian 6, Herrera 6 (Rashford 6), Carrick 6, Rooney 6, Mata 6 (McTominay 6), Martial 6, Mkhitaryan 6 (Lingard 6)

Subs not used: Bailly, Pogba, Blind, Romero

Star Man: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

SOCIAL SAYS

WHAT THEY SAID

Danny Welbeck: "It was really important to get the victory, with our position in the table we need to be further up there.

"Hopefully victory gives us a good end to the season. Manchester is a special place in my life but once we get on the pitch it's business."

Jose Mourinho: "I'm disappointed with the result, not the performance, I liked all individual and collective performances. We lost because we didn't score. We missed great chances to score before them.

"They had luck with that goal, I cannot demand more from players that dont play 1 min of football in 7 weeks. Jones Mata Smalling were amazing, the keeper the same, he did an amazing job, I think Alexis knows his name!

"Players tried to do everything, the team was good , organised, played to win, defended well. Arsenal were not better than us, they scored and they win. The goal is a lucky situation, we had much better opportunities, the game was totally under control.

"We did not deserve to lose and if we scored we would have won But I leave this stadium with Arsenal fans happy, its' the first time I see them smile and be happy, they deserve this joy. You cannot say we didn't try to win the game, [we'll throw] everything for Thursday."

Arsene Wenger: "We had to look at ourselves first, it was a patient win. In the first half we were a bit nervous, we had a good spell and took advantage of it.

"[The formation] gives us more defensive stability, there was a spell where we conceded too many goals.

"There's still a mathematical chance [of top four]. The best chance we have is to focus on our own games."