Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal: Gunners hold out for victory despite late onslaught from new-look United front line | OneFootball

Arsenal held out against Manchester United’s barrage of attacks for a hard-fought 0-1 victory at Old Trafford on an important day for Ruben Amorim following his front-line revamp. Two of his debutants, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, started the match while the third, Benjamin Šeško, came off the bench — but none of them were able to convert their many chances throughout the game.

Elsewhere, Arsenal’s Victor Gyökeres was handed his debut after his £75m move from Sporting Lisbon, where he’d netted a remarkable 97 goals in 102 appearances.

As it happened

Manchester United dominated possession during the opening quarter of an hour. Bryan Mbeumo, brought in from Brentford for £70 million after scoring 20 goals for the Bees last season, saw the game’s first opening, released by Bruno Fernandes on the right wing after Cunha competed for a loose ball. The shot was tame and routinely saved by David Raya.

Arsenal have enjoyed success against United in recent years but looked vulnerable throughout the early stages, committing four fouls in a stop-start opening 10 minutes. Despite a positive start from the Red Devils, the Premier League’s set-piece specialists took the lead after 13 minutes.

With every white shirt lining up on the edge of the box, Arsenal caught out the home side’s zonal marking. Standing in for Andre Onana, Altay Bayindir managed to palm away the goal-bound delivery from Bukayo Saka, only for the ball to falll invitingly for Riccardo Calafiori who nodded in Arsenal’s 31st goal from a set piece since the start of the 2023/24 campaign – the most of any Premier League side.

United wing-back Patrick Dorgu put in a strong performance on the defensive, winning the most duels of any player (11) while also impressing going forward, and nearly hauled his side level after half an hour. Bruno Fernandes nipped in with an important interception on halfway before finding the Dane in space. Running at Ben White with purpose, his low drive from 25 yards struck the right post and spun behind.

The skipper Fernandes was at the center of several counter attacks, and found Mason Mount in a pocket of space to the left of goal on 38 minutes. He moved it on to debutant Cunha who spun away from Declan Rice and from a tight angle forced Raya into a smart save with a low drive that seemed destined for the bottom right. This was one of three times he denied Cunha a debut goal.

United would have understandably felt hard done by at half time – having created more chances from open play, they still trailed to a clinical set-piece routine. Speaking to Sky Sports during the break, Martin Ødegaard conceded that the game was “too hectic at times … [and] without the ball [we] need to be a bit more compact.”

Indeed, it was one way traffic for the majority of the second 45. The visiting supporters would be made to wait until the hour mark for their first chance, fired well over by Declan Rice from the edge of the box – but United had found their feet.

Matthijs De Ligt won the ball while maintaning a high line before Cunha drove forward through the middle. A tireless Dorgu found possession on the left before picking out Mbeumo rising highest in the box, only for his header to be quelled by an excellent save from Raya, diving to his left. His impressive two saves either side of half-time proved to be match-winning.

It was also a busy day for centre-backs Saliba and Gabriel, the foundation of last season’s meanest defence, repelling shot after shot while Gyökores, and second-half substitutes Noni Madueke and Šeško, were relatively quiet on their debuts. All with late introductions to their clubs’ preseasons, cohesion with their more established teammates hadn’t quite developed.

A great chance fell the way of Saka in added time as he was neatly played through by Ødegaard from the right, though the Englishman wastefully flashed the shot high and wide. He was involved again in the final minute, whipping a powerful cross towards Madueke who couldn’t adjust his body in time to steer the ball home from 6 yards.

Arsenal held out against Manchester United for the win, maintaining their impressive record against the Red Devils. Manchester United were much improved from the side who finished with the club’s lowest ever Premier League points tally (42) and were more dangerous than Arsenal throughout, but need to find a clinical edge in front of goal in their bid to return to the European stage.

The lineups