Manchester United and Arsenal played out a rollercoaster of a game today, with the Gunners eventually nabbing a 3-1 victory.
The game felt like a tug-of-war between two well-coached sides desperate to claim the bragging rights.
Marcus Rashford broke the deadlock, but Martin Odegaard soon restored parity.
Substitute Alejandro Garnacho thought he had scored the winner for Man United in the 89th minute, only for VAR to rule him offside.
Arsenal’s marquee-signing Declan Rice scored in the sixth minute of the injury time to send the home fans into ecstasy.
Gabriel Jesus put the game to bed in a fine counter-attacking move.
Player Ratings:
Andre Onana – 5/10
Onana was superb in distributing the ball from the back. However, his shot-stopping must be questioned.
He should have done better for Arsenal’s second strike, even though it took a deflection.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 7/10
Wan-Bissaka did well defensively against Gabriel Martinelli. The defender made five tackles and won eight of his nine duels. However, he failed to offer anything offensively.
Victor Lindelof – 5/10
A desperate challenge forced the referee to brandish a yellow card in the first half. He had to come off, probably due to an injury.
Lisandro Martinez – 6/10
The Argentine saw plenty of the ball and completed 95% of his passes. Like Lindelof, he was forced to come off with what looked like an injury.
Diogo Dalot – 7/10
It was a disciplined performance from the Portuguese defender to keep Bukayo Saka quiet. Twice, a dangerous ball was floated into the back post, and Dalot did well to clear both times.
Casemiro – 6/10
The Brazilian is slowly getting back to his groove. He played a beautiful pass for Garnacho’s goal, which could have been the match-winner if not for VAR.
Christian Eriksen – 6/10
Fantastic vision from the Dane to find Rashford for the opening goal. He was the guilty player for not tracking Odegaard for Arsenal’s equaliser.
Bruno Fernandes – 5/10
Fernandes is known for taking risks to create chances, but he played it too safe this afternoon.
We chose him over Odegaard in our combined XI, which is a mistake considering today’s performance.
Antony – 4/10
There is no denying the fact that Antony is talented and a skilful winger. However, his lack of end-product is hurting United.
He needs to be dropped and proper opportunity handed to Facundo Pellistri.
Marcus Rashford – 8/10
Rashford was United’s best-attacking player. He took his goal beautifully and displayed stunning trickery at the byline.
He could have done more, but his teammates were not courageous enough to find him regularly in threatening positions.
Anthony Martial – 4/10
Another anonymous outing for the Frenchman.
Substitutes
Rasmus Hojlund – 7/10
Man United finally have their desired centre-forward. In his short cameo, he showed pace and the strength needed to excel as a striker in the Premier League.
Harry Maguire – 5/10
It was the first appearance of the season for the England international. He booted the ball away every time, which shows that the centre-back is very short on confidence.
Alejandro Garnacho – 7/10
A few inches took away a tremendous match-winning strike from the youngster. This will hurt.
Jonny Evans – 4/10
A dream Man United return was ruined by two sloppy goals during his late cameo.
