Aaron Ramsey shines for Arsenal against Manchester United

The Welsh midfielder's long road back to the Arsenal team reached a significant staging post in an important victory

By: Richard Williams (Guardian.co.uk)

Aaron Ramsey celebrate his goal with Robin van Persie

Would you give a new long-term contract to a player still on crutches after suffering, with a double fracture to the tibia and fibula of his lower right leg, an injury that has ended careers? Arsène Wenger did, on 1 June last year, and on Sunday Aaron Ramsey repaid his faith, scoring the goal that puts life back into the Premier League title race while showing Arsenal that they are still capable of winning a high‑pressure game.

Ramsey was playing because Cesc Fábregas had suffered a blow on his thigh in training. The 20-year-old Welshman has been working his way steadily back towards the first team since playing his first match for the reserves last November, nine months after his bones snapped under the impact of a reckless challenge by Ryan Shawcross of Stoke City. As part of his rehabilitation he was sent out on loan, first to Nottingham Forest and then to his old club, Cardiff City, before being recalled at the end of January. He made his first appearance from the bench against Manchester United in the FA Cup on 12 March, and a week later he was in the starting line‑up against West Bromwich Albion.

His second start came here in this game, in one of the most important matches, in psychological terms, of Arsenal's season. Having seen their challenge on three fronts crumble in the space of a fortnight with defeats by Birmingham City in the League Cup, Barcelona in the Champions League and Manchester United in the FA Cup, another reverse against United would have extinguished their slender hopes in the Premier League. The loss of Fábregas on the eve of the match was hardly the most helpful of omens.

Before his dreadful injury, Ramsey was looking like a replacement for the Spaniard, showing himself to be on the brink of becoming the captain's equal in terms of mobility, tactical awareness and deft passing. His leadership qualities had also been in evidence, notably with Wales's Under-21 squad, while his full international debut at 17 made it seem as though he had the potential to become his country's finest all-round footballer since John Charles. All of this could have been swept away by Shawcross's impetuous lunge.

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