Arsenal has returned the favour Manchester United gave them last year by ending the Red Devils’ unbeaten run in a 5-goal thriller.
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| Eddie Nketiah celebrates his winner against United |
Key takeaways from the game
- United lack depth on the bench
- Arsenal are electric
- Tomiyasu has to always start ahead of Ben White
- No Jesus, no problem. Call Nketiah
- Weghorst’s movement on and off the ball is underrated
- Antony's decision-making is awful, but he has a lot of hard work in him
- Casemiro is the glue in front of the sheet of defence
- Eriksen shouldn't be stressed for 90 minutes in such intense matches
Eddie Nketiah's double and Bukayo Saka's screamer were enough to nullify Rashford's solo strike and Martinez's header, as well as clinch the 3 points for the Premier League leaders.
The loss meant that Manchester United now sit 11 points adrift Arsenal who are at the peak of the table with a game in hand.
READ MORE: Manchester United vs Manchester City: Analysis, Predicted Line-Ups, and Scoreline
Marcus Rashford had scored a beautiful goal after nutmegging Thomas Partey in the 17th minute which meant that although United had a slow start to the game, their lethal nature in front of the opponent's goal (even with half chances) wasn't to be underestimated.
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| Marcus Rashford scored a beauty |
Arsenal kept on pressing the United defence and it could be seen how much of Casemiro's destroyer quality United were missing. 7 minutes after the first goal, Eddie Nketiah got his first goal of the day following some defensive blunders and bad positioning by the United back line.
The back four United chose in this game was questionable due to the absence of Malacia's tenacity and intensity against attackers, a quality Luke Shaw didn't show at all in the game as Bukayo Saka drove him towards his goal most of the time.
At the start of the second half, many United fans could argue that they expected the coach to make a substitution, considering how Arsenal were bossing the game as well as how passive United's midfielders were.
But it seemed Ten Hag wasn't cut out for a half-time change like Arteta, who took off the already cautioned Ben White for Takehiro Tomiyasu.
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| Tomiyasu kept Rashford at bay |
While Ben White found Rashford to be a pain in the arse, the reverse was the case for Tomiyasu. He kept the talented Englishman at bay for most of the game while advancing the play on the right wing with Bukayo Saka.
And in the 53rd minute, Bukayo Saka conjured a thunderbolt after trademarkedly cutting inside Eriksen's right. After conceding their second goal, United sparked a little bit and made some moves we would have loved to see a lot more often.
One of those moves resulted in a corner kick which was converted by diminutive Lisandro Martinez after Ramsdale parried the ball away from a running Wout Weghorst.
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| Lisandro Martinez relishing his first goal for the club |
United then settled in defending, a decision that was further shown in the removal of Antony for his Brazilian compatriot, Fred. De Gea made a few saves, but United couldn't just get the ball away.
Arsenal threw in their latest acquisition, Leandro Trossard, and his quality was spectacular as he was involved in the last goal.
So although controversial, Nketiah’s goal stood and Arsenal took the lead for a second time in the 90th minute. Garnacho's introduction at that moment could do little to remedy the situation as the Reds fell to a defeat for the first time in 2023.
What are your thoughts on the game?