Everything good for Manchester United came from debutants Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo during their loss to Arsenal at Old Trafford earlier this evening.
The pair, plus Patrick Dorgu on United’s left, were the main attacking threats, with Cunha dazzling in the False 9 position. His close control was superb, with only one goal missing.
United went into the break a goal down after a Bruno Fernandes’ mistake resulted in a corner kick for Arsenal on their right. Altay Bayindir flapped at an inswinger from Gabriel Martinelli. His weak left-hand touch pushed the ball to the far post – it would have gone in anyway, but Riccardo Calafiori made sure on the line. United were trailing at home within 15 minutes of the game, but responded admirably.
Their high press almost brought them back into the game. Almost 10 minutes after the goal, David Raya, in goal for Arsenal, received a back pass but immediately appeared uncomfortable with Cunha closing in. He was lucky the attacker lost his balance during the tackle, which allowed Gabriel to recover and clear the danger.
While Arsenal appeared more coherent, it was United that showed clear patterns of play – high press, long over-the-top switch to Mbeumo, playing as a right winger, and Diogo Dalot overlapping.
On 30 minutes, United had their clearest chance of the half. Fernandes pinched the ball from Arsenal debutant Zubimendi in the centre circle and played a simple pass to Belgian left wingback Dorgu, who was the furthest man forward. His strike on goal hit the bottom of Raya’s left post with the Spaniard well beaten.
Not only was Dorgu a threat in attack, but he also had Arsenal dangerman Bukayo Saka in his pocket. Dorgu actually played high up, more of a winger than a wingback.
What was curious to see was how United’s Portuguese mentor, Ruben Amorim, wants to use his back three. Harry Maguire, whom the manager touted as the best centre back for his system, opened the game on the bench. In his stead, Dutchman Matthijs de Ligt started, and the 6’2 centre back was colossal as the centre of the back three, but something else was also evident. De Ligt operated as a midfield pivot every time Bayindir was on the ball, accepting the short passes into the middle, facing his own end. He alternated this role with Fernandes, and whenever he was asked to do this, he did it well.
But Arsenal will be glad to have survived an inspired Cunha unscathed. The Brazilian maverick continued to torment Mikel Arteta’s team. On 69 minutes, he picked up the ball almost at halfway on his left and ran inside carrying Ben White on his back. He laid the ball off to Mbeumo in the box, but the French-born Cameroonian was closed down. Less from a foul and more from disappointment, he fell, but referee Simon Hooper waved play on.
On 73 minutes, Cunha picked out Dorgu on the left wing; his delightful cross found Mbeumo’s bald head just outside the small box to draw a good save from Raya.
In fact, the second half belonged to United in whole. With Dalot making way for Amad, Casemiro withdrawn for Manuel Ugarte and Benjamin Šeško making his debut, United knocked even harder on Raya’s back door without success.
On numerous occasions, Amad had Myles Lewis-Skelly in a pretzel; his effort failed to yield a goal for the Reds of Manchester, though.
De Ligt made an incredible block to deny Saka on 90+1 minutes inside the small box to keep the score at 1 nil.
In the end, the contested goal was enough to earn the Gunners a lucky win with United much the better team – a reminder that football is unlike boxing.
Earlier in the afternoon, Nottingham Forest overwhelmed Brentford, with their New Zealand target man netting twice in a 3-1 win.
