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Edward Nketiah’s last-gasp winner condemned Manchester United to a 3-2 defeat at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium on Sunday evening (22 January).
The defeat in their 20th Premier League match of the season left the Red Devils fourth in the standings. Newcastle United, who are level on points with Erik ten Hag’s men but have a superior goal difference, sit in third place.
The clash at the Emirates Stadium witnessed an effort at goal from the hosts after only three minutes of play. Thomas Partey got on the end of Granit Xhaka’s low cross toward the near post but failed to guide his effort on target. Seven minutes later, Martin Odegaard snatched possession from Bruno Fernandes before leaving it for Gabriel Martinelli. The Brazilian went for goal but Luke Shaw prevented him from testing De Gea.
Having been under the cosh in the opening exchanges, Manchester United replied with a superb Marcus Rashford goal in the 17th minute. The Englishman beat Arsenal keeper Aaron Ramsdale with a stunning strike from outside the box to claim his ninth Premier League goal of the season.
Arsenal replied promptly, with Nketiah scoring a superb header in the 24th minute to restore parity.
Eight minutes into the second half, the Premier League frontrunners got their noses in front, with their poster boy Bukayo Saka scoring from outside the box. Christian Eriksen defended poorly to let the Englishman cut in from the right-inside channel and take aim at the goal.
Six minutes later, Manchester United popped up with their response, courtesy of Lisandro Martinez’s looping header following a corner. William Saliba was on the line, but could not push Martinez’s header out.
In the 70th minute, Saka once again cut inside from the right flank and went for goal with a left-footed effort. It took a slight deflection off Eriksen and brushed the outside of the post to go behind for a corner, which ultimately came to nothing.
Nketiah finally settled the game in the 90th minute, with him steering home Odegaard’s scuffed effort from point-blank range.
Manchester United did not do much wrong in Sunday’s clash, but ultimately, Arsenal ended up being the more persistent bunch. Here are two United players who impressed and three who failed to live up to their billing in north London on Sunday:
Underperformed: David De Gea
Manchester United ace David De Gea was nervy in goal against Arsenal. His footwork was suspect and he could have done better to prevent two of the Gunners’ three goals. First, De Gea’s positioning was wrong for Saka’s goal and then, he hesitated to close down Nketiah in the 90th minute, leading to his winner.
De Gea attempted 16 long balls on Sunday, misplacing 11 of them. He also misplaced 12 of his 36 passes, which is poor for a keeper of a team that likes to build from the back.
Performed: Lisandro Martinez
World champion Lisandro Martinez stood out in Manchester United’s backline on Sunday afternoon. He read the danger superbly, making excellent interceptions and blocking goalbound efforts. The Argentina international also sprayed the ball efficiently from deep and scored an excellent header in the 59th minute to equalize for the visitors. The way he looped the ball over Ramsdale’s head and beyond Saliba was a thing of beauty.
On Premier League matchday 20, Martinez made four interceptions, blocked two shots, made three clearances, and attempted two tackles. He also delivered seven accurate long balls, won four of the six duels and completed 53 passes (82.8% accuracy).
Underperformed: Wout Weghorst
Wout Weghorst got the opportunity to impress his new employers in one of the most highly-anticipated fixtures on the Premier League calendar. The Dutchman did well to occupy spaces in dangerous areas but never looked like a real goal threat. Additionally, he was surprisingly weak in one-on-one duels.
Against the Premier League leaders, Weghorst lost 11 of 15 duels on Sunday. He also misplaced two of three long balls, lost possession 14 times, had no attempts on goal, and committed two fouls.
Performed: Marcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford drew a blank in United’s midweek 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace, which put an end to his seven-game goalscoring run across competitions. On Sunday, Rashford proved it was nothing but a minor blip in his purple patch, scoring a stunning outside-the-box strike in the 17th minute.
Receiving the ball from Fernandes in midfield, Rashford pulled off an excellent chop to go beyond Partey and then found the bottom-left corner of Ramsdale’s goal with an arrowing strike. The goal aside, he pulled off two dribbles, won five duels, and drew two fouls.
Underperformed: Aaron Wan-Bissaka
United right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka endured a disappointing Sunday evening at the Emirates Stadium. He lacked confidence going forward, lost possession cheaply a few times, and, most importantly, completely lost Nketiah for Arsenal’s equalizer. The English striker snuck past him from the right side and pulled off a clinical header to level the score for the hosts.
Over the course of the night, Wan-Bissaka misplaced both his attempted through balls, lost two ground duels, lost possession nine times, and committed a foul.
