Arsene Wenger’s final trip to Manchester United as Arsenal manager ended in an agonising defeat after an injury-time winner from Marouane Fellaini. The Belgium international flicked a header past Gunners goalkeeper David Ospina from an Ashley Young cross. Just three minutes earlier he had headed against the post, with Marcus Rashford bundling home the rebound from an offside position. United had opened the scoring on 16 minutes when a header from former Arsenal player Alexis Sanchez was knocked on to the post by Hector Bellerin and Paul Pogba stabbed home the rebound for his third goal in four league games.

The hosts lost striker Romelu Lukaku to injury early in the second half, and moments later Henrikh Mkhitaryan was left in plenty of space to weave and strike through the legs of Victor Lindelof. The game’s tempo petered out after the equaliser – until Fellaini – who Jose Mourinho says is close to a new contract – popped up to snatch the win for United, and secure Champions League football for next season. The atmosphere did change after Pogba’s opener, with the home crowd chanting ‘we want you to stay’ and the Arsenal fans responding: ‘Arsene Wenger, he won the league here.’

Wenger opted to make eight changes to his team, with one eye on Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg at Atletico Madrid, which is poised at 1-1. With an average age of 24 years and 67 days, it was Arsenal’s youngest starting XI in the Premier League since August 2011 – in their infamous 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford. It was a different story this time around. The Gunners made few mistakes and looked lively in parts, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Danny Welbeck testing United keeper David de Gea. Mkhitaryan produced a cool and accurate finish for his goal, before being taken off with a knee injury which will be assessed before Thursday. But three defenders failed to deal with a rising Fellani in the box as he headed home a winning goal that meant Arsenal remain the only team in England’s top five tiers without an away win in 2018.

Antoine Griezmann punished Arsenal’s lax defence late on as 10-man Atletico Madrid salvaged a draw from the Europa League semi-final first leg at Emirates Stadium. The visitors were on the back foot for almost the entire game after defender Sime Vrsaljko was dismissed for two yellow cards in the first 10 minutes. With Atletico’s furious manager Diego Simeone sent to the stands shortly afterwards, the Spanish side survived unscathed to half-time with Alexandre Lacazette clipping the post with a half-volley in the hosts’ best chance. Lacazette nodded in Jack Wilshere’s cross just after the hour to apparently edge the Gunners closer to a Europa League final send-off for outgoing manager Arsene Wenger.

But with eight minutes remaining Griezmann latched onto a long ball forward, shrugged off Laurent Koscielny and stabbed into the net at the second attempt for an away goal to swing the tie Atletico’s way going into the second leg in Madrid next Thursday. Arsenal’s fans were left ruing a familiar combination of wasteful finishing and costly lapses in concentration as the teams departed to a muted response in Wenger’s final home European game. Their team now must breach an Atletico defence that has conceded just four times at home in La Liga this season to have any hope of extending Wenger’s 22-season spell in charge to the final on 16 May. In contrast to Arsenal, Atletico Madrid’s defensive discipline has served them well in recent continental campaigns, grinding out victory in four of their five European semi-finals over the past nine seasons.

But the Spaniards’ usual pragmatism deserted them as they self-combusted in the opening 13 minutes. Croatian right-back Vrsaljko was booked as he caught Jack Wilshere late in the second minute and, instead of showing the requisite caution, blundered into Lacazette with his studs up eight minutes later. So early in the contest, Atletico may have expected referee Clement Turpin to limit punishment to a stern and final warning. But the 35-year-old Frenchman judged the challenge rather than the occasion and showed Vrsaljko a justified second yellow. Simeone was exasperated by that decision and incensed by Turpin opting not to book Hector Bellerin shortly after. The Argentine was dispatched to the stands after aiming a stream of invective at the official.

Wenger has twice lost in European finals with Arsenal, missing out in a penalty shootout against Galatasaray in the 2000 Uefa Cup final, before being broken down by Barcelona in the Champions League final six years later. It will require one of Arsenal’s great European displays to take him to a third.

Luis Enrique emerging as a strong candidate and understood to be keen, but chief executive Ivan Gazidis is committed to a thorough process. Max Allegri, Mikel Arteta, Leonardo Jardim, Julian Nagelsmann, Carlo Ancellotti and Joachim Löw are all seen as possible replacements who could do a good job at the club. Allegri along with Diego Simeone seem to the favourites according to fans as to who they (me included) want to see in charge at Arsenal. Eddie Howe (Bournemouth) Rafa Benetiz, Patrick Vieira &Thomas Tuchel are also names that have been discussed.

After having had one man in charge for 22 years, it is understandable that fans & critics alike are extremely curious and excited about who could replace Wenger at the club. There are so many discussions going on including one that states that the club already have the replacement decided and signed up but are waiting on announcing it. Possibly to see Wenger have his moments enjoying the farewells until the end of the season and then announce the new man in charge.

Whoever it will be, he has a big job on his hands to shape up the defense which will mean selling and buying a few players. He also needs to sort out the goalkeeper situation as Cech is past his prime and Ospina hasn’t impressed as a possible number one. Keeping Cech or Ospina as a solid backup will make good sense. We need to get really good defenders and a a holding midfielder to backup our strong forwards.

Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal farewell started in the perfect manner as the Gunners scored three goals in seven second-half minutes to ease to victory against West Ham at the Emirates. This was the first match since Wenger announced he would be leaving the club at the end of the season on Friday, after almost 22 years. Victory was also the perfect warm-up to Thursday’s Europa League semi-final first-leg against Atletico Madrid. The Gunners had taken the lead on 51 minutes after Nacho Monreal volleyed in from a corner, but Marko Arnautovic equalised just after the hour mark, rifling a shot past David Ospina.

Aaron Ramsey put the hosts back into the lead in the 82nd minute when his tame cross was not dealt with by Hammers’ defender Declan Rice and Joe Hart could only watch as the ball rolled in at his far post. Alexandre Lacazette made it three as his close-range shot beat Hart at the near post in the 85th minute, before the Frenchman sidefooted in his second four minutes later. One negative for Wenger will be an injury to Mohamed Elneny, who was taken off the pitch on a stretcher after injuring his foot in a 50-50 challenge with Mark Noble towards the end of the first half.

Victory keeps Arsenal sixth, 11 points behind fourth-placed Tottenham with four games remaining, but while they can still mathematically finish in the top four, their most likely route into the Champions League is by winning the Europa League. West Ham, who had dominated much of the first half, drop to 15th place, six points from the drop zone. Wenger made five changes to the side that lost 2-1 to Newcastle last week. Some were enforced, while others were made with the Europa League in mind. Record signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang started on the bench and Petr Cech missed out with a hip injury.

Mesut Ozil missed the game with illness, while Jack Wilshere and Sead Kolasinac had ankle injuries. Despite Wenger’s impending departure, the Emirates lacked a celebratory mood as the teams came out. There were empty seats, no fanfare and the Frenchman snuck into his dugout. The first half gave Arsenal fans little to cheer about as the visitors dominated the early exchanges. Granit Xhaka had their only shot on target as his free-kick stung the palms of Hart, while Danny Welbeck wasted a number of chances.

Shkodran Mustafi struggled in defence against Arnautovic and there were warning signs ahead of a meeting with one of the world’s best strikers in Atletico’s Antoine Griezmann. Despite deservedly taking the lead after half-time, their defensive frailties were exposed again for the equaliser. The introduction of Aubameyang in the 70th minute lifted the team and the fans. Hart was twice forced into action, first by Xhaka and then by Welbeck, before Ramsey’s goal started a late flourish as Arsenal finished in style.

So we are hearing a lot of reports that Arsene Wenger was asked to resign aka sacked by the Arsenal board. Realistically, there were three scenarios for Wenger. Stay until the end of the season, perhaps win the Europa League along the way and then announce his departure, one of those “mutual consent” deals that clubs use to mask sackings. Another was hanging in there by his fingernails and getting the metaphorical bullet come the end of May. The third is the path he chose after it became clear to him that nothing, not even a European trophy and a return to the Champions League, was going to change Arsenal’s collective mind to get rid of him.

It had gone on too far – he has been so arrogant and he talks utter nonsense in interviews. Really, who did he think he was fooling? Perhaps himself and a load of AKB’s who don’t know anything but Wenger. The asshole had to go. He blamed the fans, he blamed the media, he blamed everyone – everyone but who he should have actually have blamed! Himself! The guy was a joke towards the end. A dinosaur beyond his prime. He was stubborn and pigheaded and so full of himself. Yes he has good things being said about him from players who have fond memories but I could not wait to see the last of him.

So goodbye you moron. Good riddance! We come to the end of the Wenger out protests and the empty seats that fans have become accustomed to seeing this year.

Arsene Wenger has announced he is stepping down as Arsenal manager at the end of the season, bringing an end to a 21-and-a-half-year reign that brought unprecedented early success but has seen a late decline that made his position increasingly untenable. Wenger issued a statement earlier today that caught everyone by surprise, announcing his departure and thanking the club for letting him serve for “so many memorable years.”He added: “After careful consideration and following discussions with the club, I feel it is the right time for me to step down at the end of the season. I am grateful for having had the privilege to serve the club for so many memorable years.

“I managed the club with full commitment and integrity. I want to thank the staff, the players, the Directors and the fans who make this club so special. I urge our fans to stand behind the team to finish on a high. “To all the Arsenal lovers take care of the values of the club. My love and support for ever.” Arsenal said a new manager will be appointed “as soon as possible.” Club chief executive Ivan Gazidis is scheduled to hold a news conference at 5 p.m. local time on Friday. According to Press Association Sport, Wenger asked Arsenal to hold off announcing his decision to leave the club so he could inform his players first.

Wenger was keen to tell the Arsenal players himself and did so ahead of training at their London Colney base and minutes before the news was made public by the club. His coaching staff were also informed of the decision in advance, although club staff working at the Emirates Stadium rather than the training ground discovered the news at the same time as everyone else. Speculation surrounding the Frenchman’s future has been rampant in recent months, with Arsenal set to miss out on a top-four finish in the Premier League for the second year running. Still, there was a general feeling that he could still save his job and see out the remaining year of his contract if Arsenal won the Europa League, thus qualifying for next season’s Champions League.