Arsenal beat Manchester United 3-2 at the Emirates stadium on Sunday night to maintain their 5 point lead at the top of the Premier League standings.
Eddie Nketiah scored twice for the Gunners, including the winner in stoppage time to secure a victory in what was a Premier League classic.
Rashford opens scoring
Marcus Rashford opened the scoring on the night in the 17th with a sensational strike from 25 yards that left Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale helpless at his near post. The English striker was played through by teammate Brundo Fernandes, and the 25-year-old nutmegged Thomas Partey before unleashing his ferocious strike to give his side the lead.
Six minutes later Nketiah restored parity for the hosts steering home a header finishing off a wonderful team move. Granit Xhaka drilled his cross towards the far post after some neat interplay by Martin Odegaard and Oleksandr Zinchenko which Nketiah slotted home in emphatic fashion.
Soon after the restart, Arsenal took the lead in the 53rd minute thanks to a screamer from Bukayo Saka. The English winger cut inside from the left wing to glide past Christian Eriksen before unleashing a low effort that went past the diving David De Gea in the United goal.
Ramsdale kept the lead for his side two minutes when he pulled off a terrific save from Rashford who once again cut in from the left to unleash a low shot after dribbling past Takehiro Tomiyasu. However, it was United defender Lisandro Martinez who restored parity in the 59th minute with a diving header following Eriksen’s corner. The World Cup winner read the lose ball’s bounce brilliantly to stretch his neck and lobbed his header over the line to make it 2-2 on the night.
Late drama
It was all one way traffic following United’s equalizer as Arsenal dominated proceedings in search of a winner. United hardly got out of their box as Mikel Arteta’s side mounted attack after attack in the last 15 minutes.
De Gea denied Nketiah with a great save in the 84th minute but the Arsenal striker eventually scored the winner in the 91st minute with an unconventional volley.
VAR was sought after to look at potential offsides during the buildup but the goal stood to give the hosts three important points.
United will be disappointed to head home with nothing to show for and they have failed to win any of their last 5 away games against Arsenal, losing four times and drawing once.
Eric ten Hag’s side sit fourth in the standings with 39 points from 20 games, 11 points adrift of their hosts on the night playing an extra game.
Photo credit: IMAGO / Pro Sports Images
