Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal: Arteta’s side hold on to lone goal in overly cautious game
The performance was miles off from where Mikel Arteta would want his team to be, but in the end Arsenal are three points to the good and Manchester United start off the season on the back foot.
It was ultimately a game that both teams took very seriously, and then that translated to both managers being far more cautious than they ought to have been. There was also a rusty aspect to both teams, with overhit passes, slow runs and late challenges defining much of the 90 minutes.
Arsenal’s characteristic slick passing and fluid build-up was nowhere to be seen. At 62-38 per cent possession in favour of United the Gunners spent most of the game reacting to their opponents.
Which is not unexpected away from home against a top side but with United having finished in 15th place last season and still on level one of their transition, suggests Arteta’s side weren’t brave enough to go for the kill.
The goal came early, in the 13th minute through a corner, which showed that Arsenal have carried over their corner kick speciality to the new season and United are yet to get rid of their soft underbelly. Rice’s corner was well delivered, almost threatening to go into goal unaided, and United’s goalkeeper Altay Bayindir made a mess of it, being both too weak to get a strong hand on it and allowing himself to be blocked – but not fouled – by William Saliba.
The rest of the game Arsenal were too cautious to commit men up front, with United’s game plan revolving around long direct balls into the front three, which were regularly controlled quite well to create some – but not enough – problems around the Arsenal penalty area.
Ruben Amorim’s team sheet featured no striker in the starting XI, despite the Portuguese head coach’s insistence last week after the friendly against Fiorentina that his team “struggled without a reference as a striker”.
It can only be put down to caution then that he started with Matheus Cunha up front, flanked by Mason Mount and Bryan Mbeumo. All three impressed in different ways. Cunha showed his ball-carrying prowess by making dizzying runs that constantly created threats in central areas, a talent that Amorim will need to milk over the course of the season.
Mbeumo constantly received passes with close ball control and ran at the Arsenal backline, but most of his work was outdone by the absence of bodies in the United box. Mount put in a professional performance that suggested he may just have put his off-form injury-hit days behind him. The Englishman was utilised mostly in the midfield area as the extra man to prevent Arsenal from overloading the centre of the pitch.
Patrick Dorgu was excellent, constantly collecting long direct kicks from his half and looking to cause problems, although again there was little to target in the box. Around the half hour he went very close to his first goal for the club when he collected from Bruno Fernandes, made a good run and let out a raging shot that hit just the outside of the post.
Benjamin Sesko was brought on for his debut just after the hour mark but by then Arsenal were set in their defensive ways, content to defend the solitary goal, and ultimately they succeeded, walking away from Old Trafford with three points in their pockets.
