Arsenal 3-2 Man United.
Arsenal beat Manchester United in a highly entertaining match on Sunday at the Emirates Stadium. Eddie Nketiah scored a last-minute winner to give the Gunners all three points. Mikel Arteta’s team now have a five-point lead at the top of the table. Here are our player ratings for the match.
Arsenal vs Man United: First half.
Arsenal made no changes to their starting line-up from their 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur last weekend. Leandro Trossard, signed from Brighton earlier this week, started the game on the bench.
Meanwhile, Man United were forced to make one change. Casemiro was suspended after collecting a fifth yellow card of the season in the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace. Scott McTominay replaced the Brazilian midfielder in the starting line-up. Wout Weghorst retained his place up front.
Ahead of the match, Man United were the only team to have beaten Arsenal in the Premier League, when they won the reverse fixture 3-1 at Old Trafford in September.
Arsenal, however, started the game on the front foot and pushed the visitors back from the opening first whistle. Gabriel Martinelli crossed the ball back across the box for Martin Odegaard, who shot wide from 15 yards out. A few minutes later, Thomas Partey hit the side netting with a shot on the near post.
Man United worked their way into the match and had a penalty claim when Bruno Fernandes collided with Aaron Ramsdale. The majority of play came down the far side of the pitch, with Gabriel Martinelli taking on Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Antony (unsuccessfully) running at Oleksandr Zinchenko.
In an evenly-matched game between two well-drilled teams, it took a moment of individual brilliance to open the scoring. Arsenal lost the ball to Rashford in midfield. The England forward passed into Fernandes and received the ball back before knocking it through Partey’s legs. Rashford then hit a low, bouncing shot from 25 yards out that flew past Ramsdale and into the bottom corner.
Everything about this goal is brilliant 🔥 pic.twitter.com/82z9EbHIGU
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) January 22, 2023
Arsenal, however, got back into the game soon after falling behind. Aaron Wan-Bissaka lost the ball and it led to a corner for the home team. From the resulting set-piece, Granit Xhaka floated a cross to the back post where Eddie Nketiah ran around the sleeping Wan-Bisska to score a header at the back post.
The Gunners deserved their goal and it was a well-worked move, but the equaliser was preventable from the away side’s perspective. Wan-Bissaka, in particular, displayed poor quality on the ball and a lack of defensive awareness in the build-up to the goal.
“Considering we praise him saying he’s a good defender. This is big boy stuff, big moments. Do your job. Go and attack the ball,” Roy Keane said about the defender at half-time on Sky Sports’ coverage of the game.
What a delicious ball from Xhaka 🤌 pic.twitter.com/2qfW6vceo4
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) January 22, 2023
Arsenal vs Man United: Second half.
The second half at the Emirates started as the first half finished, in a frantic and entertaining fashion. Arsenal boss Arteta substituted Ben White for Takehiro Tomiyasu, as the defender had been booked in the first half.
The Gunners were clearly worried about Rashford running at White. On the other flank, Arteta’s team didn’t have any concerns as Zinchenko made light work of the ineffective Antony, who repeatedly failed to dribble past his opponent.
Big moments require big players to step up, Saka has most certainly stepped up 🎯 pic.twitter.com/JrV39Hohe1
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) January 22, 2023
Saka had no such trouble making an impact on the match. The England winger cut inside with the ball 25 yards out from goal and curled a wonderful low shot beyond the diving De Gea. It was Saka’s third goal in his three games against the Red Devils.
Arsenal deserved to take the lead but United soon got back into the game. Ramsdale dropped the ball from a United corner and it bounced free in the penalty area.
Lisandro Martinez aimed a brilliant, stooping diving header that looped over the Arsenal defence and into the net. The Argentina defender showed great bravery to head the ball in the penalty area and scored his first goal for the Red Devils.
The match continued at a furious pace, with both sides having opportunities to win all three points. Arsenal piled the pressure on Man United, who were pushed deep and forced to try to play on the counter-attack.
De Gea didn’t look comfortable on the ball throughout the match but redeemed himself with a brilliant, late reaction save from Nketiah’s first-time shot.
Man United were playing so deep that Gary Neville, on co-commentary duty for Sky Sports, joked that the team were playing a 4-5-1 formation “in their own box” for the final few minutes.
Eventually, the pressure became too much, and Nketiah scored his second goal of the game to win the match in stoppage time.
Arsenal vs Man United: Player ratings.
Arsenal.
Aaron Ramsdale: 5
Ben White: 4
William Saliba: 6
Gabriel: 6
Oleksandr Zinchenko: 7
Thomas Partey: 6
Martin Odegaard: 7
Granit Xhaka: 7
Bukayo Saka: 8
Gabriel Martinelli: 6
Eddie Nketiah: 9
Substitutes.
Takehiro Tomiyasu: 6
Leandro Trossard: N/A
Rob Holding: N/A.
Man United.
David De Gea: 5
Aaron Wan-Bissaka: 3
Raphael Varane: 6
Lisandro Martinez: 7
Luke Shaw: 5
Scott McTominay: 4
Christian Eriksen: 6
Bruno Fernandes: 6
Antony: 4
Marcus Rashford: 8
Wout Weghorst: 6
Substitutes.
Fred: 5.
Alejandro Garnacho: N/A.
Follow the latest transfer news in our dedicated hub here.
Related links.
- Man United face competition from Chelsea for David de Gea’s successor.
- Man United could make move for Harry Kane as they draw up striker shortlist.
- Alex Ferguson’s failed attempt to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold revealed.
- Adam Lallana fires parting shot at Leandro Trossard after Arsenal move.
- Declan Rice: Arsenal make West Ham midfielder top summer target.
