It took some fans by surprise.
Manchester United came out on top against Arsenal in the FA Cup third round yesterday but only after a tense penalty shoot-out.
United took the lead in the 52nd minute through Bruno Fernandes who ran on to Alejandro Garnacho’s pass to smash it past David Raya.
However, as is always the case between these two teams, tensions were running high and Diogo Dalot was dismissed less than 10 minutes later after receiving two yellow cards.
Moments later, the Gunners found an equaliser through Gabriel and the home side looked certain to snatch victory as they dominated possession.
Ruben Amorim’s side managed to cling on, thanks in no small part to Altay Bayindir who saved Martin Odegaard’s penalty and a fantastic save to tip Declan Rice’s close range strike over the bar.
It gave United’s second-choice keeper a huge confidence boost heading into the penalty shootout and he dived low, to his left to deny Kai Havertz while Raya went the wrong way for all five of the Red Devils spot-kicks.
Odegaard, Havertz, Rice and Thomas Partey all stepped up to take penalties for Arsenal but fans noticed that one player was left out of the selection when it came to the penalty takers despite playing 120 minutes.
William Saliba was still on the pitch as the shootout drew closer but was prevented from taking a penalty himself thanks to a little known FA rule.
The rules state that one team cannot have more penalty-takers than another.
Since United had a player sent off in normal time, it meant Arsenal had to choose one of their men to sit out the shootout.
It meant if each team had reached 11 penalties taken, the cycle would have reset after 10 penalties, with Odegaard and Fernandes taking the 11th penalties.
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It didn’t really matter as United got the job done in half that time with Joshua Zirkzee netting the winning penalty, meaning he and Bayindir became United’s unlikely heroes.
Speaking after the game, Ruben Amorim said: “We were better in set-pieces today, more aggressive. We showed spirit, even with 10 men.
“The sending off was really hard on us. There were some opportunities from Arsenal. The players were really tired.
“But I felt since the first minute today was our day. And I felt a connection with our fans.”
United will now face Leicester City in the fourth round as Ruud van Nistelrooy and his Foxes will return to Old Trafford.
