United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will have been frustrated by his side's wastefulness, with Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo guilty of throwing away obvious openings.

It was United who had the first opportunity when Arsenal keeper Almunia inexplicably picked up a backpass from Mikael Silvestre inside the first two minutes. Arsenal were relieved when Anderson's free-kick was half-cleared and Michael Carrick turned the loose ball wide.

Rooney missed an even better chance for United after 17 minutes, carelessly lofting an inviting ball from Ronaldo over the top when it seemed certain he would score.

Arsenal took full advantage of the reprieve to take the lead five minutes later, when Nasri's shot took a crucial deflection off Neville and wrong-footed Edwin van der Sar. It was a wonderfully open game but Arsenal were playing like a team stung by recent criticism and the sight of old rivals United had only inspired them further.

Fabregas had a shot deflected just wide but United were threatening themselves and Almunia needed to save well from Ji-Sung Park.

If there was a frustration for Arsenal, it would have been that the crucial second goal had eluded them, despite their dominance. They did not have to wait long to get it as Nasri doubled their advantage three minutes after the restart. Fabregas was at the centre of affairs again, punishing United for failing to pick up Nasri when he threaded through a perfect pass for the France midfield man to beat Van der Sar with an emphatic finish.

United, uncharacteristically, were lacking a cutting edge and wasted a perfect opportunity to grasp at a lifeline immediately after Arsenal's goal. Park found Ronaldo unmarked at the far post but he dragged his shot across the face of goal with only Almunia to beat.

Almunia then required lengthy treatment after an accidental clash with Carrick as United refused to give up on the belief that they could get back into an enthralling encounter. He carried on but was clearly in discomfort and was replaced by Lukasz Fabianski with 12 minutes left.

United also replaced Rooney with Carlos Tevez and Anderson with Ryan Giggs in what was clearly a last throw of the dice by Ferguson as time ran out. Rafael, who had replaced Neville in the 63rd minute, pulled one back in the final minute with a spectacular left-foot volley from the edge of the box after Arsenal failed to clear a Giggs cross.

PATRICE Evra is set to make his 100th start for United against Celtic.

He has gone 67 matches without a goal. His senior career has not been blessed with strikes having scored just once in 36 matches for Nice and once in 136 for Monaco.

But with Nemanja Vidic, Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick all weighing in from defence and midfield in the last three matches to help out the forwards, Evra wants to add his contribution. "I need to continue to defend well, but this season I really want to score more goals," said the 27-year-old, signed from Monaco in 2006. "I know I have the ability, but so far I haven't been able to do that regularly at United.

"I am a defender first, and I need to do my job well, but I hope I will get the opportunity to create and score more goals. It is not always easy to get the perfect balance. If you defend well in one game people say: 'Ah but he didn't support in attack', and if you go forward some might say, 'Yes, but he didn't defend well.'

"I love going forward, but now I really enjoy defending and I get as much satisfaction out of a good tackle as I do if I create or score a goal."

"I want to win more trophies and I know I am at the right club to do that."

Ronaldo might be benched against Celtic as Carlos Tevez and Anderson are back in contention after missing Saturday's 4-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.

Paul Scholes, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick miss out of course and they are joined in the stands by Patrice Evra who was taken off with a hamstring injury against West Brom and won't be risked tomorrow night.

He should be OK for Saturday,' Fergie said, referring to Saturday's trip to Goodison Park. The manager also confirmed that he was considering relegating Ronaldo to the bench as he's still not at full fitness and has played a lot of games in recent weeks.

If he won't start then Nani is likely to take his place in the side. Anderson and Carlos Tevez are likely to be handed starts after missing Saturday's win because they arrived back very late from international duty.

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Former Manchester United fullback Paul Parker admits he's a big fan of Patrice Evra.

“Some questioned whether he was going to be strong enough to cope in England when he first arrived,” Parker told manutd.com. “But, in my opinion, he’s the most improved player at Old Trafford in the last two years. It’s taken United a while to find someone of the quality of Denis Irwin to fill that left-back spot, but Evra has made it his own.

“Sir Alex has tried him on the wing a few times and there’s no doubt he can do a job there,” says Parker. “But I think he’s better running onto the ball from a deeper area. He’s great on the overlap and makes intelligent runs that drag defenders wide, opening up the space inside for Ronaldo and Nani to exploit. That kind of unselfish play is why so many wingers find him so easy to play with.”

So is he the best around? “The likes of Gael Clichy and Ashley Cole are certainly up there,” admits Parker, “but I don’t think there is a better left-back in the Premier League than Evra. He’s a class apart.”

Former Manchester United fullback Paul Parker admits he's a big fan of Patrice Evra.

“Some questioned whether he was going to be strong enough to cope in England when he first arrived,” Parker told manutd.com. “But, in my opinion, he’s the most improved player at Old Trafford in the last two years. It’s taken United a while to find someone of the quality of Denis Irwin to fill that left-back spot, but Evra has made it his own.

“Sir Alex has tried him on the wing a few times and there’s no doubt he can do a job there,” says Parker. “But I think he’s better running onto the ball from a deeper area. He’s great on the overlap and makes intelligent runs that drag defenders wide, opening up the space inside for Ronaldo and Nani to exploit. That kind of unselfish play is why so many wingers find him so easy to play with.”

So is he the best around? “The likes of Gael Clichy and Ashley Cole are certainly up there,” admits Parker, “but I don’t think there is a better left-back in the Premier League than Evra. He’s a class apart.”

Patrice Evra has hailed his new team-mate Dimitar Berbatov, but declared Manchester United need to work far harder if they want to carry on dominating The Premier League.

The defender is happy that former Tottenham star Berbatov joined The Red Devils in the summer but has asked the fans to be patient, as the striker needs time to adapt to his new surrounds.

“Berbatov is going to bring to us more power,” Evra told L’Equipe. “He is a talented player. Right now he is settling into the team but the team have to adapt to him as well."

Evra claims United must be focused on their objectives and work hard to achieve them.

He added: “The problem is that we seem stronger on the team sheet but if we do not make the same effort as last season we are not going in the right direction. To my mind we must work twice as hard as last season.”

Sir Alex Ferguson has backed his Manchester United side to bounce back from their Premier League defeat at Liverpool.

The Red Devils only have a few days to lick their wounds following the Anfield reverse before they begin the defence of their UEFA Champions League crown. Villarreal are the visitors to Old Trafford on Wednesday night in the first match of a group phase which also features Celtic and Danish side Aalborg.

The Scot laid into his players in the wake of their weekend setback, when defensive blunders handed Liverpool both of their goals in a 2-1 triumph for Rafa Benitez's men.

But Ferguson expects his team will have already moved on by Wednesday night and has already set his sights on qualifying for the knockout phase.

"You have to recover, that's the name of the game," Ferguson said.

"It's the Champions League and I think we are in a good group and I think we have a good chance of qualifying. The way I look at the Champions League is to get to 10 points. If you get that you know you have qualified and you can look forward to February when it really starts to kick in."

The first World Cup qualifiers in Europe brought mixed fortunes for United's internationals. Wayne Rooney was on the winning side after 90 minutes in an England shirt, thanks to two goals from Chelsea's Joe Cole against Andorra. There was no place for Wes Brown, however, with Portsmouth's Glen Johnson preferred at right-back and Everton's Jolean Lescott deputising for Rio Ferdinand in the centre.

Patrice Evra also played a full game but had no luck in the number 13 shirt for France as they suffered a shock 3-1 reverse in Austria. Dimitar Berbatov was also heading for defeat with Bulgaria until Blagoi Georgiev made the final score in Montenegro 2-2 with an injury time equaliser.

Nani had no such trouble however with Portugal. The United winger, on from the start, scored the final goal in the 78th minute as Carlos Queiroz's men cruised to a comprehensive 4-0 win in Malta.

Manchester United have named their former midfielder Mike Phelan as assistant manager, while Rene Meulensteen becomes first team coach.

Phelan, 45, replaces Carlos Queiroz, who left his position to take over as Portugal's coach in July.

Dutchman Meulensteen is promoted from technical skills development officer.

"Mick knows Manchester United inside out, having been associated with the club for the best part of 20 years," manager Sir Alex Ferguson said.

"I am delighted that Mick and Rene have agreed to fill these important positions.