Manchester: Despite the Ruben Amorim-managed team appearing to be far superior on the pitch, Riccardo Calafiori's header helped Arsenal defeat Manchester United 10 at Old Trafford.
In this high-octane encounter at Old Trafford, three offensive players—Matheus Cuhna, Bryan Mbeumo, and Benjamin Sesko—made their debut for the Red Devils on Sunday.
Altay Bayindir, who was in goal in place of the absent Andre Onana, made a goalkeeping mistake that decided the game when he failed to handle Declan Rice's corner, allowing Calafiori to score the header in the 13th minute of the game.
David Raya was at his best, preventing Cunha and Mbeumo from scoring in their debut games. The goalie made a low, one-handed save late in the first half to block Mbeumo's shot from getting into the goal with his fingertips. Raya did a good job of handling Cunha's strong effort.
In the second half, Manchester United kept pressing for an equalizer, but despite their lead, Arsenal's overall game appeared to be behind that of their opponents. Patrick Dorgu's thunderous strike shook the base of the goal post. After a cross from Dorgu, Mbeumo made another effort that resulted in a magnificent stop.
In the second half, the Gunners only managed four shots overall and none on goal. Rice's free kick deflected behind for a corner, while Martin Odegaard fired from close range in the first half.
After the game, United manager Amorim told Sky Sports that he was happy with his team's courage.
Although the performance was excellent, we can't celebrate the outcome since we were defeated in our own stadium. We undoubtedly deserved a different outcome, and we must now focus on the one ahead. He stated that we pressed high, fought one-on-one for the whole game, were braver, ran more, and were more aggressive than the previous year.
The team has quality, he said, and the nicest thing is that they aren't boring.
He said that even though we need to win games, that was a very different game from the previous season.
