Arsenal secured a 2-0 Premier League victory over Manchester United at a wet Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night, continuing to build momentum after an impressive return to form.
For United, it marked the first defeat for new manager Ruben Amorim in his fourth game in charge, raising fresh questions for the Portuguese as he gets to grips with his job.
The Gunners were perhaps the better side for the balance of the game, but it took set pieces and a Jurrien Timber header early in the second half to finally take the lead. Once the deadlock was broken and Mikel Arteta’s side had understood the chaos they could cause with the dead ball situation, things were a little clearer and a second goal of the period came from William Saliba.
How the game developed
Arsenal had the ball in the net within minutes of the kick-off, Andre Onana’s stray pass headed home by Oleksandr Zinchenko. But when Kai Havertz cut the ball into the path of Gabriel Martinelli, the German striker was caught offside. The Gunners soon had another glorious one when Thomas Partey misjudged a header yards from goal – hitting his shoulder instead.
Although United had problems with Amorim’s new system against both Ipswich Town and Bodo/Glimt, the visitors were actually quite solid defensively. Martinelli had a chance where he blazed wide on the left after a corner, with Arsenal unable to measure the dominance.
The Gunners wanted a penalty when a through ball hit Harry Maguire’s waist, perhaps his arm, but the referee was unmoved, as were the VAR officials.
United had offered nothing going forward until the closing stages of the half when Diogo Dalot had an effort just wide after Maguire’s deflection fell kindly to him.
A similar pattern continued as the second half began, United closing ranks with Arsenal in the final third. As a decent chance presented itself to the Gunners, Mason Mount was there to deflect a shot from close friend Declan Rice over the bar.
Ultimately, Arsenal’s prowess in set-pieces made the breakthrough. Rice took a dangerous corner towards the near post and it was Timber who got his head to the ball, making enough contact on the move to slot it past Onana. An almost identical corner from Rice just five minutes from time was a fraction of a second away, this time off the head of United substitute Joshua Zirkzy.
United thought they had equalized with a header when Matthijs de Ligt had an effort on goal, only to see David Raya leap over his goal to clear the ball away from danger.
Then came the Arsenal killer second. This time, Bucayo Saka’s corner was delivered to the far post, where Partey was waiting to head back into the six-yard box. Saliba didn’t know much about it, the ball only hit him in the back and bounced into the net, but he cleared away in celebration and the goal escaped a VAR review for possible offside.
Off the bench, Mikel Merino almost scored with a header from a third corner, narrowly missing the target.
See the player ratings for Arsenal vs United here.
The Gunners couldn’t find a way around a resolute United defense in open play, but set-pieces have become a huge weapon for Arteta’s side.
It’s ultimately about an advantage either way and that’s Arsenal’s. On another night, they could have had four goals from corners, all remarkably similar to highlight how meticulously he has been worked and polished by set-piece coach Nicolas Jover.
Even with Gabriel ruled out through injury, others made themselves a threat and were the difference.
Part of the problem for Arsenal in the open game is that Martin Odegaard has not allowed him to play his usual game from United’s midfield and defence. The Gunners captain was constantly overwhelmed whenever he got the ball, losing the space to pull the strings.
The Norwegian has been so influential in Arsenal’s recent burst of form since returning from injury – it’s no coincidence that they’ve struggled without him – but it was another sign of the limitations that can exist if he’s not able to perform up to par. his powers.
Credit for that in this instance goes to Manchester United, although the defensive set-up came at a cost to their own play. It took 42 minutes for a first shot on goal, on or off the pitch.
United’s three best players in the weekend’s big win over Everton were Amad Diallo, Joshua Zirkzee and Marcus Rashford, and none of them started here.
Regarding Amad specifically, Amorim talked after that game about building his physical levels, which explains why he doesn’t start twice in four days. Zirkzee’s start against Everton was also due to that opposition’s particular strengths and weaknesses, with Arsenal a clearly more suitable opponent for Rasmus Hojlund in the manager’s eyes.
Amorim replaced Tyrell Malacia, starting just his second first-team game in 19 months, at half-time and then made a triple change shortly after the absence.
