Manchester United followed their Manchester City derby victory with another statement result, beating Premier League leaders Arsenal 3-2 in north London. The win ended an eight-year wait for a United victory at Arsenal and marked the first time Arsenal had conceded three goals in their previous 121 matches.<\/p>\n
The result not only boosted United\u2019s only Champions League hopes, it also blew the Premier League title race wide open. If Manchester United do end up qualifying for next season\u2019s Champions League, it\u2019s likely Bryan Mbeumo will have played a huge role in that achievement.<\/p>\n
The Cameroonian has taken to the big stage like a duck to water, shifting between different roles under Ruben Amorim before being asked to go up top by Michael Carrick. His tenacity, work rate and composure under pressure are all very impressive, as was his ability to score and capitalise on Mart\u00edn Zubimendi\u2019s moment of madness.<\/p>\n
Similarly, Matheus Cunha has fleetingly shown that he\u2019s capable of succeeding at United. Here, he announced his arrival on the big stage. Picking up possession in the No. 10 position, he carried the ball towards David Raya\u2019s penalty area before arcing a tremendous finish around Gabriel and past the sprawling hand of the aforementioned goalkeeper.<\/p>\n
You could argue that Lisandro Mart\u00ednez\u2019s own goal was simply a case of not being able to sort his feet out quick enough. But others, including the writer and Gary Neville on Sky Sports\u2019 commentary, would say the Argentine should have done more to wriggle free from Arsenal\u2019s Jurri\u00ebn Timber.<\/p>\n
Player ratings<\/p>\n
GK: Senne Lammens \u2014 8.2: Made a tremendous reaction save from Zubimendi\u2019s header and claimed countless high balls. Crowded out from the corner that led to Merino\u2019s equaliser but deserved to be on the winning side.<\/p>\n
RB: Diogo Dalot \u2014 6.1: The Portuguese\u2019s in-game rating would suggest he had a torrid afternoon against Leandro Trossard, but that couldn\u2019t be any further from the truth. Well positioned for the most part.<\/p>\n
CB: Harry Maguire \u2014 7.0: Arsenal\u2019s decision to start Gabriel Jesus backfired as Maguire was rarely tested by the Brazilian. Things should have got more physical when Viktor Gy\u00f6keres came on, as well as when set pieces became more of a factor.<\/p>\n
CB: Lisandro Mart\u00ednez \u2014 6.0: The own goal could have sent his performance level spiralling but he remained switched on as Arsenal struggled to find their rhythm.<\/p>\n
LB: Luke Shaw \u2014 6.9: Looked to show Bukayo Saka down the flank, nullifying his go-to ploy of cutting inside on his strongest foot. It worked for the most part, even when Arsenal increasingly turned to their most creative outlet.<\/p>\n
DM: Kobbie Mainoo \u2014 7.0: United\u2019s organised press started from the front but Mainoo more than played his part in keeping \u00d8degaard and Rice quiet. Claimed the assist for Cunha\u2019s outstanding winner.<\/p>\n
DM: Casemiro \u2014 6.4: Consciously decided against diving into tackles, instead maintaining shape in a bid to frustrate United. It worked in what will be his final game against Arsenal.<\/p>\n
RW: Amad Diallo \u2014 6.9: A tad quiet on the right flank, perhaps still overcoming his exertions at AFCON. Still, Amad\u2019s press and work out of possession played a big role in United\u2019s success.<\/p>\n
AM: Bruno Fernandes (c) \u2014 7.5: Cut a frustrated figure at times, yet his presence in the No. 10 role forced William Saliba and Gabriel to squeeze up higher than they would normally. Forced the error from Zubimendi that led to Mbeumo\u2019s goal.<\/p>\n
LW: Patrick Dorgu \u2014 7.8: A dismal attempt to head away Piero Hincapi\u00e9\u2019s cross led to Arsenal opening the scoring, but that error was atoned for in the most sensational way minutes into the second half. Lovely combination play with Fernandes and boy what a hit.<\/p>\n
CF: Bryan Mbeumo \u2014 7.7: Gobbled up Mart\u00edn Zubimendi\u2019s error with delight and then sat David Raya down to coolly slot home the 50th Premier League goal of his career.<\/p>\n
SUB: Matheus Cunha (69\u2019 for Mbeumo) \u2014 7.6: Sensational impact from the bench and a real mark of his overall quality.<\/p>\n
SUB: Benjamin \u0160e\u0161ko (81\u2019 for Dorgu) \u2014 N\/A<\/p>\n
SUB: Noussair Mazraoui (89\u2019 for Amad) \u2014 N\/A<\/p>\n
Subs not used: Altay Bay\u0131nd\u0131r (GK), Ayden Heaven, Leny Yoro, Tyrell Malacia, Manuel Ugarte, Mason Mount.<\/p>\n
Match statistics<\/p>\n
Possession: Arsenal 56% \u2014 Man Utd 44%<\/p>\n
Expected Goals (xG): Arsenal 1.20 \u2014 Man Utd 0.73<\/p>\n
Total Shots: Arsenal 15 \u2014 Man Utd 10<\/p>\n
Shots on Target: Arsenal 4 \u2014 Man Utd 3<\/p>\n
Big Chances: Arsenal 1 \u2014 Man Utd 1<\/p>\n
Passing Accuracy: Arsenal 84% \u2014 Man Utd 79%<\/p>\n
Fouls Committed: Arsenal 11 \u2014 Man Utd 9<\/p>\n
Corners: Arsenal ? \u2014 Man Utd ?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
United beat Arsenal 3-2 in north London, boosting Champions League hopes and shaking the title. race<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1083,969],"tags":[538,342,260],"class_list":["post-6246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-man-utd","category-premier-league","tag-amad-diallo","tag-bruno-fernandes","tag-bryan-mbeumo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}