The Old Trafford curse seemingly remains intact. Arsenal traveled to Manchester hoping to leave with their sixth straight win, but lost 3-1 at the hands of Erik ten Hag’s rejuvenated side. The Gunners played well, but a combination of a failure to take chances, naive defending, and, yes, questionable officiating sunk them. Fortunately, Arsenal remain in first place. But they missed an opportunity to increase the distance between them and the rest of the pack. Below are three Hits and three Misses (aside from yet another horrific implementation of VAR) from a disappointing match.
HITS
Gabriel Jesus
The Brazilian certainly did not deserve to be on the losing side on Sunday. Right from the outset, he caused United’s back line issues with mazy dribbles and smart movement. Within minutes he forced Lisandro Martinez into a tackle that should have earned the little Argentinian a yellow card. Jesus was so tricky on the ball, Scott McTominay had to pull out a WWE move to stop him at one point in the match as well. Arsenal’s no. 9 played a role in Bukayo Saka’s equalizer and was unlucky not to score himself. He will probably be rested for the Zurich match, and he has earned it.
Bukayo Saka
After a good but somewhat quiet start to the season, Saka was one of the bright spots on Sunday. For Gabriel Martinelli’s goal that was questionably ruled out, Saka played an excellent pass to put the Brazilian in on goal. Despite that assist being chalked off, the now 21-year-old made his mark in the end. After a great ball by Martin Odegaard to Jesus, Saka slotted home Arsenal’s only goal of the night. It was also the Englishman’s first of the season, and it puts him level with Nicolas Anelka for goal contributions before the age of 21. We all know this, but he is a special player.
Fabio Vieira
With Arsenal trailing at Old Trafford, Vieira came on for what turned out to be an interesting cameo. The Portuguese midfielder looked assured on the ball, adding a silkiness to the midfield. He played a clever through ball to Jesus, and took a couple shots at goal. One was off target, but the second forced a save from David de Gea. He didn’t steal the show, but ahead of a Europa League fixture against FC Zurich, it was an encouraging performance. It also speaks to a huge amount of a confidence from Mikel Arteta that he was willing to hand Vieira his debut while down a goal at Old Trafford.
MISSES
Gabriel
It was not the best of performances for Gabriel. For United’s first goal, the Brazilian lunged out of position in an attempt to bring down Bruno Fernandes. Unfortunately, Gabriel failed to stop his man and the ball made its way to Antony before he curled it around Aaron Ramsdale to make it 1-0. Gabriel did not make many mistakes on the day, but this was a big one. If you are going to vacate your station like that, you have to come away with the ball or the opposing player. He also had a few moments he would like back in the second half, in which he struggled to play a high line as Arsenal chased.
Sambi Lokonga
A key to this match was how Sambi would fare in midfield. And while he was fairly decent for much of the match, he too made a few mistakes that were punished to the maximum. He got caught out of position for United’s opener, leading to Gabriel missing a tackle against Bruno Fernandes and the move proceeding from there. The young Belgian also played a role in United’s second. In an awkward position, he forced a line-breaking pass toward the final third, but it was intercepted. With Sambi not where he needed to be, United stormed forward and grabbed another goal. Some grace should be given because Old Trafford is a tricky place to go, but Sambi struggled on the day.
Mikel Arteta
With Arsenal down 2-1 and a perfect run on the line, Arteta opted for a triple change. He brought on Vieira, Emile Smith Rowe, and Eddie Nketiah for Oleksandr Zinchenko, Sambi, and Odegaard. Unfortunately, Arteta also decided to change the system. Granit Xhaka was moved to the base of midfield while Nketiah played up top with Jesus. Martinelli and Saka shifted to wing back roles. But it all proved to be too much to ask, especially with a debutant on the pitch. Under the strain of all this change, Arsenal collapsed defensively and United scored a third. In hindsight, Arteta perhaps should have been more patient before changing things around so dramatically.
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