Marouane Fellaini of Manchester United celebrates after scoring his sides second goal
Arsene Wenger endured more agony at Old Trafford as his depleted Arsenal side conceded an injury-time goal by Marouane Fellaini to lose 2-1 to Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday. Fellaini headed in Ashley Young's inswinging cross in the first minute of added-on time to deny Wenger a point in his final trip to United's stadium before he leaves Arsenal after more than 21 years in charge.
This was nothing like the 8-2 loss in 2011 or the 6-1 defeat here in 2001, but it was painful nevertheless for Wenger on a day he was honored with a glass vase before kickoff by former United manager Alex Ferguson and embraced by the current one, long-time foe Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho had the last laugh against Wenger, as he has so often, and the win moved United five points clear in second place, virtually guaranteeing second place behind champion Manchester City.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan marked his return to Old Trafford with an equalizing goal as Arsenal — fielding a largely second-string team in view of the Europa League semifinal second leg on Thursday — responded well to conceding a 16th-minute goal from Paul Pogba.
Mkhitaryan never established himself in 18 months at United and was deemed surplus to requirements by Mourinho in January, setting up a move to Arsenal in a swap deal that saw Alexis Sanchez go the other way.
The Armenia midfielder barely celebrated when he scored in the 51st minute. Sanchez set up Pogba's goal by heading against the post.
This was once one of the must-see fixtures in English soccer, but the recent decline of Arsenal meant this edition lacked the bite and intensity of some of the past meetings of the two teams.
Even United fans' welcoming of Wenger — they applauded him to and from the dug-out — said much about a game that meant little to Arsenal and felt like a pre-season match at times.
Wenger gave a senior debut to 20-year-old Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos and also started Ainsley Maitland-Niles, 20, and Reiss Nelson, 18, in a severely weakened lineup that might have been expected to cave in after conceding early.
Romelu Lukaku crossed to the far post where Sanchez planted his header — via the boot of Hector Bellerin — against the post. The ball rebounded out to Pogba, who sidefooted a volley into an empty net.
Arsenal didn't collapse, though. The visitors were given a boost when Lukaku hobbled off in the 49th after being on the receiving end of a kick by Mavropanos, and then equalized.
Almost inevitably, it was Mkhitaryan who collected the ball from Granit Xhaka after United lost possession in midfield, advanced as the home defense backed off, and slammed a low shot into the far corner from the edge of the area.
Marcus Rashford had a goal ruled out for offside moments before Fellaini glanced Young's cross into the corner.
In London, Manchester City passed the 100-goal mark in the Premier League by beating relegation-threatened West Ham 4-1 on Sunday, leaving the newly crowned champions in sight of a slew of records.
After goals by Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus and Fernandinho, as well as an own-goal by former City player Pablo Zabaleta, Pep Guardiola's side moved to 102 goals for the campaign — one off the team record held by Chelsea in 2009-10.
City also moved to 30 wins for the season, matching the record number of Chelsea from last season.
With three games still to play, City on 93 points also needs just three more points to post the most outright in a Premier League campaign. Those games are against relegation-threatened teams Huddersfield, Brighton and Southampton. Beating Southampton away would give City 16 wins on the road, another Premier League record.
West Ham, which remained only three points above the relegation zone, played a part in their own downfall at the London Stadium.
Patrice Evra — a former Manchester United player — stuck his head out to block Sane's effort from outside the area and only succeeded in sending the ball into his own net past flat-footed goalkeeper Adrian in the 13th minute.
The second goal also arrived courtesy of a deflection, two in fact. Kevin De Bruyne's low cross was palmed into the leg of Declan Rice by Adrian, only for the ball to hit Zabaleta and bobble into the net in the 27th.
Aaron Cresswell curled a free kick into the corner from the edge of the area on the stroke of halftime to bring West Ham back into the game, but the second half was all City.
Raheem Sterling slipped in Jesus to take one touch and sidefoot home in the 53rd for his fourth goal in as many games, then passed the ball across for Fernandinho to slot in a first-time shot in the 64th.
