Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal saw their 100% record so far this season taken away as his side fell to a 3-1 defeat away at Old Trafford against a rejuvenated Manchester United under Erik Ten Hag. However, the result doesn”t totally tell the full story.
Arsenal came into the game on top of the world (and the league) as five wins in five games gave the perfect springboard ahead of their first major test against a fellow ‘big six’ side in the form of Manchester United but were brought back down to earth after a 3-1 win dealt the Gunners their first loss of the season.
The Red Devils started quickly but Arsenal looked to have found the opener after Bukayo Saka’s brilliant pass put Gabriel Martinelli through on goal who expertly finished passed De Gea. However, the goal was controversially ruled out as Martin Odegaard allegedly fouled Cristian Eriksen. However, despite Arsenal pushing for the lead Utd found the breakthrough through new signing Antony after Gabirel’s poor positioning left the Brazilian winger free to slot the ball pass Aaron Ramsdale. Arsenal continued to pin the home side into their own half but couldn’t find an equaliser before half-time.
After the break Arsenal started to dominate, putting together some really nice flowing moves but none were rewarded with a goal. Odegaard came close and should’ve done better after being found by Gabriel Jesus in the box but failed to find the target. However, they would finally get their reward on the hour mark as Gabriel Jesus was played through by Odegaard, and the ball found Bukayo Saka who had the simple task of playing the ball into the goal to equalise for his side. But their joy would not last long as against the run of play, Utd regained the lead through Marcus Rashford after Bruno Fernandes played a ball through the middle of the Arsenal defence. That same move was repeated again with the same result as Rashford killed off the game with his second making it 3-1.
Fabio Vieria made his first Arsenal appearence as a subsitute in the 75th minute and impressed in the short time he had on the field. He is bound to play a starring role in Arsenal’s UEFA Europa League campaign which gets underway on Thursday away in Switserland. And the Portugese wasn’t the only Arsenal player to perform well as despite their defeat, there was a lot of positives for Arsenal too take. They controlled the majority of the game and looked brilliant at times. However getting caught on the counter cost them and that’s something that Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff will look to improve ahead of their return to Premier League action at home to Everton.
Player Ratings:
Ramsdale: 7
White: 7
Saliba: 6
Gabriel: 5
Zinchenko: 6
Lokonga: 6
Xhaka: 6
Odegaard: 7
Saka: 7
Jesus: 7
Martinelli: 6