Score seven on Tuesday, get criticised for a lack of end product on Sunday. Such is the way for Arsenal this week.
But their performance at Old Trafford was a perfect example of why the thrashing of PSV in the Champions League shouldn't mask their need to go out and find a clinical No 9 in the summer. It must be top of the priority list for incoming sporting director Andrea Berta.
It was a similar story when they laboured to a penalty shootout defeat against 10-player Man Utd in the FA Cup in January. Here, they dominated the first half but went in behind because there was no incision in the final third after their good build-up play brought them to the edge of the United box (and because ref Anthony Taylor couldn't pace out 10 yards!).
They continued to bang on the door in the second half and while Declan Rice's whipped finish finally broke through the deep United block, Arsenal will leave Manchester kicking themselves for not having taken more from the game. They had 17 shots in all, just six on target and looked more like the side which had drawn blanks against West Ham and Nottingham Forest in their previous Premier League games.
Arsenal could easily have lost, such were the chances for United - who had marginally the bigger xG total - at the other end.
Their supporters will hope a solution arrives in the summer - but they will also need a short-term answer to be more creative and more clinical around the box to make a success of their Champions League campaign when they run up against a defence not as generous as PSV's.
Peter Smith
Bruno Fernandes may have benefitted from the positioning of Arsenal's wall, which was a yard further back than it should have been, but it still took something special to score from that distance. Who better than him to deliver it? "We need more Brunos," said head coach Ruben Amorim afterwards.
This has been a miserable season for Manchester United but it would have been a lot worse without their captain. In the last few weeks alone, he has made a string of vital contributions.
There was the free-kick goal to help rescue a draw against Everton at Goodison Park. He then created all three of the goals that secured the 3-2 win over Ipswich. His goal against Fulham in the FA Cup wasn't enough to save his side but his latest effort, curled home just before half-time at Old Trafford, earned a battling draw.
He will rue the late chance saved by David Raya which would have won it had it beaten the Arsenal goalkeeper but Manchester United would have come away from this game with nothing at all if it wasn't for his brilliance. He continues to deliver when needed.
Nick Wright
The biggest cheer from the Spurs faithful on another muddling home performance wasn't Heung-Min Son's equalising goal - it was when Micky van de Ven entered the field. He hasn't been seen in a Premier League game since December when he hobbled off against Chelsea. Boy, Spurs have missed him.
The numbers are there for all to see about how much the Dutchman influences this team. In the 29 games without him, Spurs' win percentage in the Premier League has dropped from 54 per cent to 37 per cent. They win 1.8 points per game with him and just 1.2 without him. Over a prolonged period of a season that could be the difference between mid-table and a European finish. That's why the home fans found their voices when he was stripped and ready to go.
Immediately there was a difference in Spurs, in that they were being braver and pushing further up the pitch. Van de Ven's pace and power is the insurance policy that allows Spurs to play this way. It's the bedrock of how Ange Postecoglou wants to play the game.
The Spurs boss said: "You saw the drive he has and having a left footer at centre-back it just changes the dimensions of how we play. So, there's little things there that I think certainly from today we'll be able to take into Thursday and the rest of the season."
Lewis Jones
Bournemouth are machine-like in their pressing without the ball. To see it up close at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in full flow was a joy. They just don't stop running. Spurs felt this heat inside 20 seconds of the game when Cristian Romero was forced into an error and the visitors rarely took their foot off the gas. It is brave. It is bold.
And it's a style of play that teams really struggle to work out. The 38 pressures that led to a turnover by Bournemouth is a monstrous figure - the eighth highest produced by any team in a Premier League game this season. Justin Kluivert was the leader of the press, making 55 pressures with six of them leading to a turnover of possession.
What Andoni Iraola now needs to do is create a ruthlessness in this Bournemouth team where their high-level performances merit a higher points return. This is back-to-back away games now, at Brighton and Tottenham, where they've left with fewer points than they deserved.
Lewis Jones
Chelsea's hard-fought win over relegation-doomed Leicester City that lifted them back into the Champions League places was perhaps best summed up by Cole Palmer's battling display in the south west London sunshine.
The twinkle-toed playmaker was not at his best, but as ever was involved in everything good the hosts did at Stamford Bridge, almost winning the Blues a second-minute penalty, before going close with a couple of early strikes that lifted the home crowd.
However, Palmer then spurned a glorious chance to open the scoring from the spot midway through the first half, the first time the England international had missed a Premier League penalty as his top-flight goal drought extended to seven games and 683 minutes - and all this in front of new Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel.
Eyebrows were raised when Palmer was withdrawn with 17 minutes to go and the match very much still in the balance, only for Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca to explain his player had not trained for the past two days due to a fever.
"Cole had not been feeling well, he had a fever for the last 48 hours, but he said to me this morning 'I want to help this club get into the Champions League' and this shows how these players want it," said the Italian after the game.
And it is that kind of fighting spirit from both Palmer himself and the team that could very well see Chelsea secure their main objective this season of Champions League football.
Rich Morgan
Apart from a spirited win against West Ham and the draw against Brighton that followed when Ruud van Nistelrooy first arrived at the club, Leicester have struggled since parting ways with Steve Cooper.
I have covered the Foxes on a fair few occasions this season and the same story seems to unravel in every fixture. Flashes of positive play and a degree of defensive resilience, but in the end, it is always the same outcome.
Leicester simply do not have enough firepower going forward to cause problems for teams in the top-flight. Losing 12 out of 15 games is a damning indication of their shortcomings but it is goalscoring, having gone nearly 600 minutes without finding the back of the net in the league, that is the underlying problem at the club.
With Manchester United, Manchester City, Newcastle, Brighton and Liverpool as their next five fixtures, which would be a daunting task for any team, it feels like the fate of the Foxes could be decided by April.
Patrick Rowe
