We all know Arsenal have a problem away to the big six sides, but arguably none worse than when it comes to making the trip to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United.
It’s surreal to think now that the Gunners enjoyed one of the greatest nights of their history on Man Utd’s turf, when Sylvain Wiltord’s goal gave them a 1-0 win that secured the title at the end of the 2001/02 season.
MORE: Paul Merson thinks Man United star should start against Arsenal on the bench
Since then, however, Arsenal have played 18 Premier League games at Old Trafford and won just one of them.
Their record is truly abysmal, with eleven defeats and six draws in that time, though they have managed two wins there in the FA Cup, both times along the way to winning the competition, so that’s some consolation.
Still, today Arsenal are in league action away to United again, so what better time to look through this shocking record once again?
Here’s a look through each of Arsenal’s trips to Manchester since that memorable night in 2002…
Man Utd 2-0 Arsenal (7 December 2002)
Just a few months after the humiliation of losing their title on their own ground, United got their revenge with this fairly straightforward 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Juan Sebastian Veron and Paul Scholes.
Man Utd 0-0 Arsenal (21 September 2003)
A memorable game, not really for the quality of football on show, but for the madness in the closing stages. United were awarded a stoppage time penalty, which Ruud van Nistelrooy duly missed. Not long before that, Arsenal players were furious about his role in getting Patrick Vieira sent off, and absolute carnage followed at the final whistle. Arsenal’s players didn’t come out of it well and landed a few suspensions for their troubles, but in the end Van Nistelrooy’s penalty miss and the 0-0 draw proved a big moment for them on their way to winning the title as Invincibles that season.
Man Utd 2-0 Arsenal (24 October 2004)
Another big battle at Old Trafford, and one you might argue Arsenal never really recovered from. Going into the game chasing a 50th match unbeaten, Arsenal were not at their best but looked to be doing enough to come away with another 0-0 draw. Some hugely questionable refereeing from Mike Riley, however, saw United get away with a number of pretty shocking fouls that surely could not have been overlooked in the VAR era. United then also took the lead through a highly questionable penalty, and ended up winning 2-0 late on. Many Arsenal fans will feel this remains one of the great robberies in the Premier League era, and it painfully brought their Invincibility to an end. 16 years on and they still haven’t won the title again, or really come close.
Man Utd 2-0 Arsenal (9 April 2006)
Another 2-0 defeat for Arsenal. Goals from Wayne Rooney and Park Ji-sung did the job for the Red Devils, though Arsenal were probably more focused on their run to the Champions League final at that point anyway, while the defeat also didn’t do enough to stop them finishing in the top four.
Man Utd 0-1 Arsenal (17 September 2006)
Arsenal’s last Premier League win at Old Trafford. 14 years ago, Emmanuel Adebayor struck in the 86th minute to give the Gunners a deserved 1-0 victory. Gilberto had earlier missed a penalty, and Arsene Wenger’s side were generally on top for most of the game, even if it was United who would go on to have the far better season as they won the title while Arsenal had to once again settle for fourth.
Man Utd 2-1 Arsenal (13 April 2008)
Arsenal were actually in the title race in 2007/08, though they typically imploded when it mattered most with a poor run towards the end of the season. This included a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford, with goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Owen Hargreaves helping Ferguson’s side come from behind and claim a big three points on their way to claiming the title.
Man Utd 0-0 Arsenal (16 May 2009)
This time, United won the title against Arsenal, albeit with a slightly less thrilling 0-0 draw at home to the Gunners in 2009. Arsenal threatened to spoil the party, but as usual could not find enough killer instinct to make it count on this ground, and the home side celebrated three title victories in a row at the final whistle.
Man Utd 2-1 Arsenal (29 August 2009)
Another game in which Arsenal might feel hard done by, but it’s already clear by this point that they also just have a bit of a nosebleed whenever they turn up at Old Trafford. Andrey Arshavin gave them the lead with a superb long-range strike, but they failed to build on it and Rooney equalised through a slightly dubious penalty. Abou Diaby’s own goal was unfortunate, but once again summed up Arsenal on this ground as it handed United the three points.
Man Utd 1-0 Arsenal (13 December 2010)
United weren’t at their best but didn’t need to be. Arsenal were once again very poor in this trip to Manchester and a single goal from Park was enough to settle the contest.
Man Utd 8-2 Arsenal (28 August 2011)
Utter humiliation for Arsenal as they were battered 8-2 by United. In a game the Premier League will never forget, Ferguson’s side ran rampant, racing into a 3-0 lead in the first 41 minutes, with Robin van Persie missing a penalty before Theo Walcott pulled one back before half time. In the second period, however, United continued to show no mercy, with Rooney getting a hat-trick and Ashley Young being made to look like prime Ronaldo with some fine goals that Arsenal just couldn’t live with. Looking back, it’s incredible to think Wenger survived as manager for a further seven years after this.
Man Utd 2-1 Arsenal (3 November 2012)
A different score-line, but much the same for Arsenal as they were once again completely off their game at Old Trafford. Painfully, Van Persie took just three minutes to score against the club he’d left that summer, and Patrice Evra added a second later on before a late Santi Cazorla consolation.
Man Utd 1-0 Arsenal (10 November 2013)
Even David Moyes got Man Utd to beat Arsenal at home! The Gunners started that season strongly and could have laid down a marker with a result here, but they offered very little and Van Persie once again came back to haunt them with the winning goal.
Man Utd 1-1 Arsenal (17 May 2015)
After five defeats in five trips to Old Trafford, Arsenal finally came away with a point in this one. Louis van Gaal was in charge this season, and not doing the best of jobs, so this meant even Wenger had a chance at taking something from the game. Ander Herrera gave United a first-half lead before Walcott’s deflected equaliser levelled it late on.
Man Utd 3-2 Arsenal (28 February 2016)
Arsenal gave this one a bit more of a go in what ended up being a five-goal thriller, but it was still United who came out on top in a game that will no doubt be remembered for Marcus Rashford’s heroics as he netted twice on his Premier League debut. Danny Welbeck and Mesut Ozil scored for Arsenal, but Herrera grabbed the winner.
Man Utd 1-1 Arsenal (19 November 2016)
A poor game between two pretty poor sides. United were struggling under Jose Mourinho at this point, and found it particularly hard to open teams up at home. Still, they took the lead through Juan Mata and looked set for the three points before Olivier Giroud’s late equaliser. Probably a fair result.
Man Utd 2-1 Arsenal (29 April 2018)
Fittingly, Wenger lost his last match away to Man Utd. It was another poor performance overall, though Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s equaliser on his return to Manchester gave the Gunners some hope. Marouane Fellaini got the late winner, however, just the kind of goal Arsenal seemed to forget how to prevent in the latter part of the Wenger era.
Man Utd 2-2 Arsenal (5 December 2018)
It’s easy to forget now, but there was genuine optimism about how Arsenal started under Unai Emery. It’s also fair to say Arsenal probably deserved to come away with a win in his first trip to Old Trafford, though United twice came from behind to make it a 2-2 draw.
Man Utd 1-1 Arsenal (30 September 2019)
Another trip to Old Trafford, another return home without a win, but it feels like some progress is being made…maybe? There have been a few more draws in recent years and the defeats have felt like closer games. On this occasion, Scott McTominay opened the scoring before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang chipped in a nice equaliser, which, before VAR, would’ve been wrongly called offside. Perhaps the change in officiating in the Premier League now can give Arsenal renewed hope ahead of their latest trip to the Theatre of Dreams today.