Dorgu and Cunha screamers end Arsenal’s unbeaten home run

The first notable opportunity of the opening 20 minutes came from a Martín Zubimendi header following a free-kick, but Lammens was there to block it. In the 28th minute, Bukayo Saka’s effort from the right resulted in the ball bouncing off Lisandro Martínez, with the Manchester United centre-back inadvertently turning it into his own net.

Just eight minutes later, a mistake from Zubimendi allowed Bryan Mbeumo to collect the ball on the edge of the area, and the forward made no mistake with the finish to level the score. The first half ended 1-1, with neither manager opting for changes at the break.

In the 50th minute, Dorgu surprised the stadium with a left-footed stunner to put United 2-1 up. Mikel Arteta was forced to respond, introducing Viktor Gyökeres, Eberechi Eze, Mikel Merino, and Ben White. Arsenal pushed for an equalizer but struggled to convert their chances.

Finally, in the 84th minute, Mikel Merino found the net from a corner, with the goal awarded following a VAR check. However, just two minutes later, Matheus Cunha decided the match in style with a masterpiece from long range, securing a 3-2 victory for Manchester United.

After the match, Michael Carrick shared his thoughts: “Yeah, it was a tough game for us today. I think we knew that coming into it; it was never going to be the perfect kind of game. We’ve been together less than two weeks, so we knew we were going to have to draw on many different things to get a performance and a result. It was up and down at times, but the belief, confidence, and spirit the boys showed made me really proud today.”

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta reflected on the loss: "I think we started the game really well. For the first half-hour we were very dominant, played in the areas we wanted, scored a goal, and had two fantastic chances to score another. After that, we gave them a goal; errors are part of football - very unlike us - but we gave them hope and that shifted the energy. From then until half-time we really struggled to keep the ball in the right areas.

"The game became a bit open and lacked the dominance of the first half. In the second half, they produced two brilliant goals - moments of individual quality and magic. With the changes, I think we managed to shift the energy and score the second goal. You could feel the game was there to go and win it, but it wasn't to be."