Manchester United vs Arsenal analysis: More capital punishment for Red Devils
Arsenal capitalised on Premier League leaders Liverpool’s draw at Newcastle by seeing off Manchester United in the capital on Wednesday night.
The defeat halted the momentum United had been building under new manager Ruben Amorim.
Sports News Blitz writer Robert Bore analyses the match - and where it went wrong for the Red Devils…
Grim reading for Man Utd
When looking at the pre-match stats for the game it made grim reading.
United had won just two of their last 18 visits to London, and both of those were against Fulham.
Mikel Arteta is also a bit of an enigma for United, losing only one of nine league games against them with a 67% win rate.
Throw in it was Arsenal's 500th match at The Emirates in all comps and the apparent gulf between the two sides and I'll admit, I wasn't exactly enthused by the prospect of the Emirates on a wet Wednesday in December.
By the time the line-ups had dropped, Ruben Amorim had made six changes, tasking Tyrell Malacia with keeping Bukayo Saka quiet in his first Premier League appearance since May 2023.
Harry Maguire, Manuel Ugarte, Alejandro Garnacho, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund were also drafted in from the beginning.
Early chances go begging
The hosts had the ball in the back of the net early on but it was rightly flagged offside - and they should have had the opener inside eight minutes but Thomas Partey headed against his own shoulder when a clean connection would have broken the deadlock.
It was an ominous sign of things to come.
Maguire, however, settled quickly into the back three, spraying the ball around like a tree-top sniper and United bossed early possession albeit without too much of a threat.
Another corner causing me nerve sweats but United looked solid in their shape, even when the ball dropped over Malacia's shoulder and Saka threatened to spring clear.
From the corner I was positively dripping, Oleksandr Zinchenko's shot blocked before Gabriel Martinelli thrashed wide.
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Cheeky plucker
Maguire blocked, thankfully without his arm, to see another corner to defend but this time Andre Onana plucked it out of the air.
At the other end, we weren't threatening - a trade-off I guess.
Defensive solidity at the expense of attacking prowess. Maybe that was being saved for later?
United's first real attempt came just short of the 43rd minute, although Mason Mount will probably try and pass his effort off as a cross.
Maguire did really well to recycle the ball into Diego Dalot's path but his fierce effort flashed across goal and just wide of David Raya's far post.
United had quietened the crowd and Mikel Arteta was already skulking.
Malacia was flashed a yellow for delaying a free-kick he had himself given away from being taken while Ugarte joined him in seconds later after asking for a yellow card when Malacia was then fouled by Saka.
And there was the first half.
Second-half changes
Amorim made his first role of the dice at the break, in-form Amad Diallo on for Malacia who had made a good fist of keeping Saka quiet.
Could United keep this going? Martinelli was blocked by Maguire and Rice fired over the top albeit with a slight deflection as Arsenal came out of the blocks with more purpose.
De Ligt went down and was treated as Maguire was cautioned for time-wasting but the Dutchman returned seemingly unscathed.
It was no surprise when United were finally undone from a corner after 54 minutes.
Rice curled one tantalisingly deep into the six-yard box and Jurrien Timber was on the end of it to glance home.
Disappointing, and based on what we saw in the first half, predictable.
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Set-piece specialists
Not that the visitors were the first and neither will they be the last side to be bamboozled by an Arsenal set-piece landing under their crossbar.
United needed another plan and Arsenal hadn't lost for 24 games after scoring first.
Amorim went back to the dice with weekend heroes Joshua Zirkzee and Marcus Rashford summoned from the bench alongside new-boy Leny Yoro for his belated debut.
Dalot curled high and wide before Maguire, Mount and Garnacho departed as the changes were confirmed.
It should have been two as Rice curled in yet another beauty and United somehow scrambled out for consecutive corners of which the second was too deep.
Corner stop
Here's a tactical thought, stop giving corners away!
Amorim, meanwhile, cut an animated figure on the sideline, kicking every ball and directing traffic as best he could - but pressure was pretty constant.
Amad did Zinchenko with a lightning turn of pace before the Ukrainian hauled him back just outside the box, giving Fernandes a chance to engineer a reply.
He almost did with a floated cross that De Ligt aimed into the far corner but Raya clawed out like a bear cleaning out a beehive.
Amad had to be the 'out ball' now for United with his marker on a card but Arteta read my mind and made the change before any further danger could be done.
Rashford gave away a cheap corner trying to fashion an overhead kick clearance and was made to pay, Saka swinging another horrendous (for a defender) ball over for Partey to nod back towards danger at the far post which went in off William Saliba's back and it was 2-0.
It was Arsenal's 22nd goal from a corner since the start of last season. Which also suggests it was not a secret. Which then suggests maybe teams could be better prepped on what's coming? Easy to say from here.
Kai Havertz could have made it three but Onana stood up well - and two corners later sub Mikel Merino headed narrowly wide.
United had gone at this point, there was nothing going forward and still 10 minutes to play. Antony joined the fray.
Gobbled up
They did get a chance to pull one back, a clever free-kick seeing Fernandes feed Antony's apparent dummy run - but the Brazilian's finish was straight at Raya and the rebound gobbled up.
But putting it into context, Arteta's side are well down the road on their, ahem, 'project' while Amorim has chalked up less than a month.
And watching the order and calm of the opening 45 minutes suggests he knows his shallots from his scallions.
The game turned on the opening goal and Arsenal's tails were up.
Martin Odegaard, well-marshalled in the first half, was more influential after it, while the aforementioned corner carnage was too much for the away side, whether from the foot of Rice on the left or Saka on the right.
Did we learn anything more?
Noussair Mazraoui was once again excellent and Arsenal aren't Everton.
Maybe if De Ligt's header found its intended range, this game could have had a different ending - but while nobody puts baby in a corner, Arsenal clearly do.
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