Reds surge to fourth

Manchester United's elusive search for a first away win in 2014/15 came to what had initially seemed like an unlikely end this morning with a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. A Kieran Gibbs own goal in the second half, Wayne Rooney's galloping breakaway effort in the 85th minute, and the heroics of David De Gea at the other end of the field earned the three points. Antonio Valencia's low shot after 56 minutes was inadvertently deflected by Gibbs into his own net to give the Reds the lead, then Rooney finished off an incisive counter-attack to make it 2-0. Angel Di Maria could have made it 3-0 late on, but he missed a good chance and Olivier Giroud pulled a goal back to make it a nervy 2-1 finish. But this was a commendable performance of persistence from United in testing circumstances, as the Reds have now climbed up to fourth place, and it looks like maybe things will be better with Loser van Gaal in charge.