Through the mist of a north London afternoon, it was possible to see the green shoots of Manchester United recovery. Just the tips. There is a long way to go and for sure there will be some setbacks along the way.
But from the horrors of Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Newcastle, Ruben Amorim’s players have somehow managed to find a way forward. Perhaps more importantly than anything, they have rediscovered a little of their self-respect and their belief.
They needed tonnes of that here at the Emirates. They played an hour of football with ten men. They played an hour almost exclusively in their own half. Diogo Dalot’s dismissal for two quick second half bookings seemed to have killed them.
And when Bruno Fernandes’ goal was cancelled out by Arsenal defender Gabriel within a minute of Dalot exiting the scene, it seemed inevitable that Mikel Arteta’s team would run all over United.
It could have happened. It probably should have happened. Had Martin Odegaard not fluffed a penalty – Altay Bayindir saving – soon after Gabriel’s goal then it almost certainly would have. And yes Arsenal missed their chances. Lots of them. If ever there was an illustration of their enduring need of a centre forward then this was it.
But United did not survive through the rest of the second half and then a period of extra time to eventually prevail on penalties just because Arsenal were feckless in front of goal.
Bruno Fernandes broke the dead-lock after netting for United at the start of the second half
Diogo Dalot was sent off in the 61st minute after receiving his second yellow card of the game
Gabriel responded for Arsenal and levelled the affair just two minutes after Dalot’s dismissal
They did it because their three central defenders – Harry Maguire, Matthijs De Ligt and Lisandro Martinez – were sensational both in effort and deed. They did it because back up goalkeeper Bayindir – at fault as United exited the Carabao Cup at Tottenham last month – decided that this was going to be his day.
And they did it because, when it came down to it, they held their nerve in a shoot-out when Arsenal didn’t and the identity of the winning taker was particularly appropriate.
Everybody had scored apart from Kai Havertz – he had a terrible afternoon – when Joshua Zirkzee stepped up to take United’s fifth penalty. It seemed a brave choice by United manager Amorim.
Zirkzee had been booed off by his own fans when United lost to Newcastle at Christmas and some people even blamed him for not providing Maguire with a perfect pass when glory beckoned towards the end of the 2-2 draw at Liverpool last week.
So this seemed like a bang or bust decision by Amorim but if Zirkzee was fazed he didn’t show it, rolling the ball calmly to David Raya’s right to send United in to the next round.
For Arsenal and indeed Havertz this was the end of a very bad week. Beaten here 2-0 by Newcastle in the Carabao Cup in midweek, they were not good enough here. They didn’t create a proper chance in the first half and only came to life when they had an extra man. To make matters worse, they lost Gabriel Jesus to first half injury.
Earlier United manager Amorim had offered Alejandro Garnacho a way back for the first time since his last start against Nottingham Forest back in early December. Garnacho was taken out of the United team at the same time as Marcus Rashford but for him at least there does seem to be a future at Old Trafford if he wishes to grasp it.
Rashford remains on the outside looking in as United try to sell or loan him during the January transfer window while for this game there was also no place in the starting eleven for the star of the moment Amad Diallo.
Martin Odegaard fluffed a chance to put the Gunners ahead with a penalty in the 70th minute
Altay Bayindir was United’s deciding factor in the shootout after he saved Kai Havertz’s effort
Having signed a new contract at the club in the week, the young winger began on the bench after missing a couple of days training with a knock. He was to emerge later and score his team’s second penalty in the shoot out.
Arsenal were also not at full strength. Declan Rice was also not risked and he began among the substitutes while the absence of hamstring victim Bukayo Saka continues to be keenly felt.
Here, Jesus began the game in Saka’s position on the right with Havertz playing through the middle. Jesus was only to last 35 minutes, though, after suffering what appeared to be a nasty injury in a tangle with United captain Bruno Fernandes.
Indeed that was one of the few notable happenings of a really poor first half that was high on niggle and desperately low on quality and real talking points.
United, looking to build on last weekend’s draw at Liverpool, were happy to sit in and contain Arsenal whilst looking for chances to hit them on the break. Amorim’s team had precious little of the ball or the territory in the opening 45 minutes but still managed to work Raya in the Arsenal goal on two occasions. The home team, for all their possession, failed to create a single chance of note.
All of this contributed to a sense of anxiety here at the Emirates. Arsenal seem unsure of which way this season is going to go and the midweek home defeat to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg had only played to that nervousness.
Arsenal did have the ball in the net in the 18th minute but Gabriel Martinelli was a yard offside when running on to a through ball to beat United stand-in goalkeeper Bayindir.
The wisdom of playing Bayindir seemed questionable given that progress in the FA Cup feels important to United. Andre Onana’s deputy had conceded a goal straight from a corner in a Carabao Cup game at Spurs in December and, as we know, Arsenal tend to be quite good at those. Nevertheless, Bayindir was to do his bit and more.
United still have a real shot at winning either the FA Cup or Europa League after Sunday’s win
Meanwhile, Arsenal’s silverware hopes lie heavily on the Champions League. The Gunners trail Liverpool by six points in the league and are 3-0 down in their EFL Cup tie with Newcastle
Arteta’s team did threaten from set pieces a couple of times but United held firm. Apart from that, Arsenal enjoyed possession but lacked imagination and artistry. Martinelli did have a sight of goal in the 35th minute but delayed his shot.
It was an ugly game at times. Martinez was booked for flailing an arm at Jesus and was lucky when referee Andrew Madley decided not to act when the defender came through the back of an Arsenal player a few minutes later.
Jesus, meanwhile, was carried off after running back to try and stop a break led by Fernandes. It appeared the Brazilian fouled his opponent and Fernandes was booked when responding to a signal of play on by throwing his boot to the ground. Jesus stayed down and was eventually replaced by Raheem Sterling.
Half-time came as a relief to everyone. United had worked Raya from distance through Kobbie Mainoo and Garnacho but neither shot looked likely to go in. It had been that kind of half.
Thankfully the second period was ignited pretty early and it was a United goal that did it. The usually reliable Arsenal defender Gabriel lost out in a dual with Garnacho in front of the dug outs and when he broke away to square the ball Fernandes finished beautifully and emphatically with his instep. It was a fabulous counter attacking goal.
Arsenal’s response was almost immediate. Sterling and Havertz both had chances within minutes but miscued horribly. Pretty soon a defender was to show them how to do it but Dalot’s red card was to come before the equaliser.
Booked early in the second half for a foul on Myles Lewis-Skelly, Dalot then invited trouble by going through Mikel Merino. It wasn’t a particularly dangerous tackle but it was reckless and it gave referee Madley a decision to make. It was a borderline yellow card but the decision went against United. As temperatures rose – and with the Arsenal bench appealing for everything – Amorim himself appeared to be booked.
Arsenal now had a man advantage but still needed a goal. They got it almost immediately. Bayindir could only punch an in swinging free-kick up in to the air and when the ball dropped and bounced, Gabriel showed great technique to turn and volley in to the corner via a deflection off De Ligt.
Arsenal have won just two of their five games since Bukayo Saka’s hamstring injury last month
The Red Devils have won three of their last four penalty shootouts, after losing 8-7 last time out to rivals Manchester City in the FA Community Shield final in August 2024
With almost half an hour still to play, the whole game and the whole atmosphere had changed. Arsenal were quick to make their numerical advantage feel significant and when Sterling drove in to the penalty area to feed Havertz, the German went down under a challenge from Maguire.
The United defender had appeared to pull his leg away at the last moment. VAR may have had a view but was not in use so Madley’s decision to award a penalty stood. Much pushing and shoving followed and when Havertz got involved with Manuel Ugarte and then Garnacho he fell to the floor clutching his face. Maguire, quite understandably, had a view on all of this.
Eventually some kind of order was restored and Odegaard stepped up to take a penalty that was saved low to his left by Bayindir. United, somehow, were still alive.
United now had little choice but to try and hang on into extra-time and beyond. It seemed a big ask and when Rice – on as a substitute – rose unmarked to meet an Odegaard cross with 15 minutes left, the outcome seemed ominous for the visiting team. But Rice directed his header too close to Bayindir and the goalkeeper touched the ball over.
Arsenal’s football had lacked sophistication on the whole and that remained the case as they pushed for a winning goal. United had not managed to offer a single thing in attack after their goal and given the circumstances that was hardly surprising.
A break from one substitute, Amad, did present another, Zirkzee, with a chance to shoot in the 87th minute but his effort struck an Arsenal leg. Then, at the other end, Havertz missed his second big chance of the half.
Beating the offside trap to control a cross on his thigh, he seemed to have done the hard bit. He was only five yards out with the goal at his mercy but somehow he prodded the ball over the top.
Rice – who had contributed brilliantly since coming on – did somewhat better four minutes into added time as he ran free into space down the left. His low shot seemed destined for the far corner but Bayindir’s fingertips touched the ball the other side of the post. It was a brilliant save and enough to earn United an extra half an hour that on the back of effort and desire alone, United more than deserved.
Arsenal failed to win consecutive games at the Emirates for the first time since April 2024
United face Leicester, managed by club legend Ruud van Nistelrooy, in the fourth round
Not much was to change and there was no surprise there. By the time we had played the first ten minutes of extra time, United had managed only eight touches in the Arsenal penalty area all afternoon and it wasn’t a number that was threatening to go up any time soon.
Arsenal still couldn’t score, though. Their weight of possession saw them camped out in the United final third but they didn’t have an awful lot to show for it, never mind a goal.
Rice was denied once again as De Ligt dived in to block. Then, in the 101st minute, Havertz was played to the byline only for the same defender to beat substitute Leandro Trossard to the low cross and somehow get the ball up and over to safety.
There was a desire and a commitment to United’s defending that it was hard not to like and as we moved into the second period of extra time Arsenal anxiety began to feel rather tangible.
The crosses into the United penalty area grew ever more hopeful and less measured. The passing became a little frantic. Indeed it was United’s Zirkzee who threatened next, moving on to an Amad pass to shoot low for the near corner where Raya dropped to apply a glove.
The sobering truth for Arsenal was that they didn’t create a chance in the final 20 minutes of extra-time. And when the shoot-out arrived, Havertz’s nerve failed him. Odegaard atoned for his earlier mistake by scoring Arsenal’s first but Havertz – up next – took a weak kick and Bayindir saved to his left. That proved decisive.
Rice and Thomas Partey scored for Arsenal but United scored all theirs through Fernandes, Amad, Lenny Yoro, Martinez and then, dramatically, Zirkzee.
