Arsenal 2 – 3 Manchester United

Matheus Cunha scored a sensational winning goal in the 87th minute to secure a 3-2 victory over Michael Carrick’s Manchester United and cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League to four points.

Just three minutes after Mikel Merino leveled the score for the lackluster hosts from a Bukayo Saka corner, substitute Cunha curled in a superb finish into the corner from 25 yards remaining.

Arsenal had earlier taken the lead after a poor pass from Martin Zvimendi allowed Brian Mbeumo to run in front of goal, before Lisandro Martinez converted Martin Odegaard’s cross into his own goal for the first goal, beating David Raya.

Arsenal struggled to regain their composure after Mbeumo’s equaliser, and Manchester United, who beat Manchester City 2-0 in Carrick’s first match last weekend, took the lead with Patrick Dorg curling a superb shot over the bar.

Mikel Arteta tried to change the course of the game by making four changes before the hour, but Arsenal continued to struggle and were only finally level when Merino crossed the line and scored a set-piece goal.

At that point it looked like Arsenal might just go ahead and find a winner, but Cunha’s stunning long-range strike sparked yet another wild celebration from Manchester United, which silenced the Emirates Stadium. When the final whistle rang, some home fans booed.

The win continued Carrick’s dream start in the dugout and sounded the alarm for Arsenal, who had cut their lead at the top of the Premier League from seven points to four after wins over Manchester City and Aston Villa.

Arsenal are now winless in three games, with Manchester United aiming for a fourth-place finish in the Champions League, after their last two Premier League matches ended in goalless draws with Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.

Vieira questions Arsenal’s mentality

Former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira felt his former team lacked mental strength.

“They still have a four-point lead,” he said on Sky Sports. “However, there are still questions about the mental strength of the team.

“It’s not just that they lost the game, it’s the way they lost the game. Saka and Trossard didn’t do enough to worry United.

“They need a leader who will lift the team’s spirits. They need to understand that on the pitch they have to play with more energy and risks. They have quality.”

“They didn’t play with the freedom to express themselves.”

Arteta responds to boos from Arsenal fans

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta spoke to Sky Sports about reminding fans of Arsenal being booed at the Emirates Stadium.

“I hope we don’t have to do that, because they know,” he said.

“You need them when you can’t win, and when you win it’s easy.

“When you lose a game, you have to show unity, unity and energy to get where you want to go.

“Losing is part of it for us and for any team.

“It’s very painful, but it’s time to get close to the players who gave us such great moments. We all want to win.

“We have to learn from it. Defeat is part of victory and we have to take it this way, because we need to be reminded of how good they are.”

Odegaard: we must unite

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard told Sky Sports:

“We didn’t do enough. We need time to analyze now, but our performance wasn’t good enough. We should have done better, but now it’s time to keep working together and bounce back together.”

“In the first half we were the better team, we scored goals and controlled the game, but we conceded a lot of goals in the game, creating dangerous moments and the game changed a little bit in the second half.

“We know their quality when they get the space to run. In the second half there were a lot of duels that they won and we gave them the momentum of the game and let them run, but we just couldn’t get into the rhythm of creating chances.”

“It’s never been easy in this league, we know that. Now is the time to get stronger. We’re still at the top of the league, so we have to keep moving forward and bounce back quickly.”

Carrick is proud of his Manchester United players

Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick told Sky Sports:

“I’m very proud. I think it was different than last week. Today is always going to be different. They put a lot of pressure on us in different ways.

“Maybe we didn’t have as much of a real regular threat during the game as we did last week, but I think there were periods where we looked really dangerous.

“It was a big moment for us to come here and score three goals the way we did, go down one point, come back and then have a setback and still be able to keep going.

“The guys had to put in a lot of effort today. It probably wasn’t as easy as last week. Last week, the time, the flow of the game, the momentum was on us pretty much the entire time, but today we had to dig deep.”

“It was a huge effort and I’m really proud of them.”

Maguire: “Results are really great”

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire told Sky Sports:

“It’s a really big deal. I know the first game under Michael Carrick was the Manchester derby at Old Trafford. You’re always on your feet for games and such an outcome can happen. But today we knew we had to back it up.”

“We talked about it before the game. We came here to play against the league leaders who have had a great run this season. They ask a lot of questions and it’s typical of this team to come out with a winner after a late setback. It was a great performance.”

Arsenal’s defensive woes – Opta stats

Arsenal conceded three goals in a single game for the first time since a match against Luton Town in December 2023, and they have not conceded more than once in 121 games in all competitions. Arsenal suffered their first Premier League defeat at the Emirates since May last year (vs. Bournemouth). Today was Manchester United’s second home league match at any point this season. Bruno Fernandes became the first player since Wayne Rooney (2012/13, 2013/14) to record 10 or more assists in consecutive Premier League seasons (10 in 2024/25 and 10 in 2025/26). Patrick Dorg and Matheus Cunha’s strikes made Manchester United the first visiting team to score twice from outside the box against Arsenal in the Premier League since Tottenham in October 2008 (Jermain Jenas and David Bentley).

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