Arsenal 2 – 0 Man Utd

Ruben Amorim suffered his first league defeat since December 2023 at Arsenal – and his first Premier League defeat was a reality check on the task at hand at Manchester United.

The Portuguese, who had an incredibly dominant spell in charge of Sporting in his homeland, had warned of a storm ahead for his side ahead of the game, despite their 4-0 win over Everton at the weekend.

“The storm will come. We will have difficult moments and we will be found out in some games,” he had said in his pre-match press conference. That storm arrived at the Emirates Stadium in the second half when his side were undone by two Arsenal corners.

It was the first time United had conceded two goals from corners in a Premier League game since January 2014.

But set piece defense wasn’t the only problem on display. We pick out the key talking points from United’s loss at Arsenal and what it means for Amorim…

Match fitness

Amorim said there was a “time constraint” on certain players given the need to deal with their injury problems and nurse them back to full fitness. Tyrell Malacia’s half-time withdrawal – after he had done well to limit Bukayo Saka in the first half on his first Premier League appearance since May 2023 – was proof of that. As was the substitution of Harry Maguire on the hour mark. Amorim also referenced Mason Mount and Leny Yoro.

It was also seen in Amorim’s squad selection with the six changes he made the most of Man Utd from one Premier League game to the next since the last day of the 2022/23 season, with an FA Cup final to prepare for.

The starting XI raised eyebrows as Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee each scored twice against Everton last time out only to be benched. But Amorim – as he did after the draw in Ipswich – explained how he has to manage training loads by rotating his squad.

Offensive threat

These changes make it difficult to build patterns of play and consistency in performance, and the altered front three here had little impact – as did the substitutes who replaced them in attacking areas.

Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho did not have a shot. Mount had the fewest touches of any starter. Zirkzee despaired when a second-half flick missed his target wide, ending the prospect of a United counter, but Rashford’s main contribution was to spoil an attempted flick as he tried to clear the ball, giving Arsenal the corner they scored. their second goal from.

Bruno Fernandes, in the deeper central midfield role, had a few shots but wasn’t the creative force he can be and United ultimately couldn’t step up through the gears when they needed to in the second half.

Matthijs de Ligt’s header – which drew a fine save from David Raya – was United’s only real moment of serious threat.

Their expected goals under Amorim now read 0.8, 1.07, 0.31 against Ipswich, Everton and Arsenal.

“We worked hard to build up,” Amorim said. “You can see the structure and the idea. But then in the last part, in the last third, you can see that we have to improve, be more aggressive and have more ideas.”

The positive…

Yoro’s first appearance for Man Utd after breaking his foot against Arsenal in pre-season was a definite plus point for Amorim. The young centre-back, playing to the right of the back three when he came on in the second half, stretched to put a dangerous Saka cross behind and made a good block when Leandro Trossard looked set to score.

Amad Diallo also looks good for this system. He was somewhat of an exception to United’s attacking woes, producing some exciting dribbling down the right – but he was unable to ignite that spark into a significant contribution to get United back into the game.

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