Santi Cazorla
Reuters

Santi Cazorla believes that Arsenal were unlucky to be beaten at Old Trafford as Manchester United had not done enough to warrant three points from the game.

The Gunners went into the game with an eight point lead over the Red Devils and a win here would have seen them go 11 points clear at the top of the table.

However, a set-piece saved the day for United, as Robin van Persie scored his third goal in as many appearances against his former club, giving United some hope after a lacklustre start to the season.

Arsenal were visibly jaded, having coming into the game on the back of a trip to Germany where they beat Borussia Dortmund. The game was preceded by another engaging battle against Liverpool where the Gunners came on top but the third consecutive encounter against a top opposition proved too much for the league leaders.

The visitors had more possession and played more passes but failed to break down United in a ground where they haven't won a single game since 2006.

"We lost - we know you can lose at United - but because they didn't do anything really to beat us. You say: 'Last year we lost 2-1 but they rolled over us.' This year's different. Two shots for them, two for us; in corners it's 6-5. Someone brought the paper in with the stats. They had 39% of the ball. What did they do better? Nothing really: we didn't play well but they weren't so brilliant as to beat us," Cazorla said.

"The conclusion was: 'If they're going to beat us, let it be that they beat us well. Not because on a corner we weren't alert.'

We felt like that was three points gone against a team that will be up there. It's a dead ball, Van Persie's kunmarked and you lose to something you can avoid."

"I think we're OK. Defeat hurts because we could have opened up a gap. Other results went our way and it was an opportunity lost. But I wouldn't talk about fatalism. It's one game and we've shown we're more consistent this season. Last year we had a lot of good games but we would go to grounds where we should win and didn't. We've changed," he concluded.