10 talking points from a winning weekend

Check out Your Monday Briefing at the beginning of each week, to make sure you are up to date with the latest Manchester United news and views from the weekend…

UNITED 2 ARSENAL 1
It may not have been a classic encounter to live long in the memory, but the Reds earned another welcome Premier League win thanks to substitute Marouane Fellaini’s winning goal in added time. Paul Pogba has opened the scoring in the first half with his sixth strike of the season, before Henrikh Mkhitaryan equalised to mark his return to Old Trafford following a January move to the Gunners.

FOUR MORE POINTS FOR SECOND
Saturday’s win over Arsenal guaranteed our place in the top four this season and, as such, qualification to the UEFA Champions League group stage in 2018/19. The mission now is to consolidate second place in the top-flight and only four points are required from the remaining nine.

FELLAINI CONTRACT GETTING CLOSER
Marouane is out of contract at the end of the season, but Mourinho believes he will commit his future to the club after months of speculation. “I believe he will stay,” Jose told reporters. “The position is we are almost there. But, in football, almost is not enough. I think we are almost there but I can't celebrate because almost is not enough. I want to see the white paper with the United crest and I Mr Ed Woodward's signature and Marouane’s signature on it.”

TRIBUTES TO ARSENE WENGER
The Frenchman will leave the Emirates Stadium at the end of the season and his final match at Old Trafford in charge of the Gunners was excellently marked with one-time fierce adversary Sir Alex presenting a memento before kick-off, with Mourinho also joining in the respects. “I'm happy with the class my club showed towards him,” Jose told us. “I told the club I'd like Sir Alex to present the award, not me, because Sir Alex was his real rival, especially at United.” Wenger was also grateful, saying afterwards: “I am thankful to Manchester United because they had a nice gesture. It is the first time I get a trophy before a game. It is very classy from them.”

INJURY FOR LUKAKU
Our top scorer for the season was forced to exit the match early in the second half, when he was replaced by Anthony Martial. It remains to be seen how serious the injury is and whether the Belgian could be fit to Chelsea in the Emirates FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium on 19 May. “I don't know if he is going to be out," Jose said. "For him to say immediately, to change him, it is because he couldn't play. But there are three more weeks until the final, so let's see.”

OUR MAN OF THE MATCH
Victor Lindelof started at centre-back and the Swedish international handled Arsenal speed king Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang with relative ease. That helped him to win our Man of the Match award after earning 50 per cent of the fan vote. “I’ve really enjoyed it, there are still a few games left and we’re going to just keep focusing on that," he said of his first year as a Red, to MUTV. "It’s been a good season for me, I just want to keep working hard and I’m looking forward to next season.”

THE CHELSEA RESULT
We feel it’s worth keeping an eye on the Blues from now until that date at the national stadium and they’re in decent spirits right now, after earning a 1-0 win at Swansea on Saturday that “kept their Champions League hopes alive”, according to manager Antonio Conte. Cesc Fabregas' 50th Premier League goal was enough to secure victory for Chelsea, who have three matches remaining.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JUAN MATA
The Spanish playmaker turned 30 on Saturday and he marked the occasion by tweeting a childhood photo of himself, stood with a football trapped beneath his foot. “Not much has changed,” he wrote.

YOUR LAST CHANCE TO VOTE
The polls for our annual awards night all close at midnight this evening, so make sure you register your votes for the four main prizes before time runs out. The ceremony will take place at Old Trafford on Tuesday night and MUTV subscribers can watch the must-see event live from 19:00 BST.

THREE LOAN PLAYERS IN ACTION
It was a quieter than usual weekend for our young players at temporary clubs, with only two of them featuring: Sam Johnstone made his 45th appearance of the season for Aston Villa in their 1-1 draw against Derby County in the Championship, and Matty Willock chalked up a 10th outing for Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone as they drew 1-1 with Partick. Andreas Pereira, James Wilson, Axel Tuanzebe, Tim Fosu-Mensah, Dean Henderson and Charlie Scott were all not in action.