United Win to End Arsenal’s Unbeaten Run

Marcus Rashford’s double and a debut goal from Antony handed Arsenal their first defeat of the season in a 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford.

It was an exhilarating game with plenty of back-and-forth action, but it was Erik Ten Hag’s side who kept up their recent good form against the Gunners. It was Arsenal who went ahead, or so they thought. Gabriel Martinelli’s excellent finish was disallowed by VAR due to a foul on Christian Eriksen. The challenge looked soft at first, but referee Paul Tierney deemed the contact enough for the goal to be overruled. Man United then had their turn to score and it was none other than the debutant Antony. Drafted into the starting eleven to replace Anthony Elanga, he certainly made an impact. A bit of link up play between Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford allowed the latter to play in the Brazilian, who slotted home a composed finish beyond ‘keeper Aaron Ramsdale.

Going into the second half, it was Arsenal who came out the strongest, deservedly levelling the game when Bukayo Saka fired home from close range, the game now all square.

Not even ten minutes later and United were back in front, Bruno Fernandes played an inch perfect pass into Marcus Rashford, who finished with confidence to swing the game in United’s favour.

With just under 15 minutes left to play, the home side put the game out of Arsenal’s reach, with Rashford bagging his second of the game, although this time it was Christian Eriksen supplying the forward.

Some great performances across the board from United today, Rashford and Antony impressing in the forward line, whilst Eriksen provided another composing performance in the middle of the park. Arsenal should not be too negative with the performance, they dominated in parts of the game, there were just a few mistakes from the team and the manager Mikel Arteta himself which were the wrong choices. It seems that he has the foundations lay in place for the team, but it’s important to remember that he and the squad are still young and irrational in some cases, meaning results like this are learning curves.

In terms of what’s next for both teams, United face Real Sociedad at home on Thursday in the Europa League whilst Arsenal travel to FC Zurich on Thursday too.