Manchester United and Arsenal met on Sunday with a lot on the line for both Premier League sides.

The Gunners won their opening five games and were beginning to dream of a potential title challenge, while United were hoping to make it four victories on the bounce after their defeats to Brighton and Brentford.

The game threw up a number of big moments, with Antony, Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka all enjoying attacking success at Old Trafford.

Here’s here social media saw the action unfold.

The big news for United was the inclusion of new signing Antony, brought in from Ajax recently for around €100m. The Brazilian is familiar with Erik ten Hag, having worked with him in Holland.

Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane continued their partnership in central defence, leaving Harry Maguire on the bench where he sat alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Casemiro.

There had been some question marks over the fitness of quartet Aaron Ramsdale, Ben White, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Martin Odegaard.

However, they each shook off their complaints to start at Old Trafford in a full strength lineup from Mikel Arteta.

Antony is likely to become a fan favourite at Old Trafford with his showboating skills, and he provided a taste of what’s to come as the winger chopped the ball away from two Arsenal defenders to Diogo Dalot, whose cross was volleyed wide by Christian Eriksen.

Arsenal’s first chance came soon after, as a set piece wasn’t cleared effectively by United and fell for William Saliba.

The Frenchman scored a delightful goal at Bournemouth earlier this season but couldn’t control his effort from the centre of the box.

United had enjoyed a high-tempo start at home but looked to have fallen behind when Gabriel Martinelli sprung past their backline from Bukayo Saka’s pass and finished cooly beyond David de Gea.

However, on a weekend filled with contentious VAR calls, Martin Odegaard was adjudged to have fouled Eriksen in the build-up to the goal and it was disallowed. If you type ‘VAR’ into Twitter you’ll get a good scope of the reaction – mostly negative – but here’s a taster anyway.

A challenge from Arsenal midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga had United fans up in arms, with Bruno Fernandes going down claiming a studs-up tackle from the Belgian.

Arsenal looked dangerous during the first 30 minutes and came close to a lead through Martinelli, though again he was denied, this time by David de Gea who sprung across goal to claw the header away from goal.

For all of Arsenal’s tidy play, it was United who edged ahead as new signing Antony made a dream start to his Red Devils career.

The Gunners were carved open as Rashford played in Antony, who had time and space to pick his spot and curl into the far corner.

United made it through to half time ahead, with the Gunners needing to overturn the scoreline to maintain their 100% winning start to the season.

Arsenal continued playing with intensity in the second half and were duly rewarded with the equaliser.

Arteta’s side caught United high up the pitch and exploited Raphael Varane being out of position. They surged through the middle and the ball fell for Saka, who stroked past De Gea and the despairing Martinez.

Arsenal were level for just six second-half minutes as a moment of magic from Bruno Fernandes helped the hosts go 2-1 up.

The Portugal international picked the ball up in midfield and whipped a brilliant through ball with the outside of his foot for Rashford to latch onto. The 24-year-old made it two goals in four games with a well-taken finish.

The assist was magnificent and rightly got a lot of praise.

Rashford was a player who seemed to be enduring something of a confidence crisis.

However, during United’s revival since losing their opening games of the season to Brighton and Brentford, the forward has delivered and bagged a brace when Arsenal gave away a sloppy third.

Eriksen ran straight through the middle of the pitch untracked to charge through on goal. The midfielder squared for Rashford, who fired in under pressure from Saliba.

Rashford famously bagged a double against Arsenal in 2016 during his breakout season at Old Trafford.

Arsenal could have extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points with victory, but their advantage of closest competitors Manchester City and Tottenham is now just one point.

After the European action in midweek, Arsenal will look to get back to winning ways on Sunday against Everton, while United visit Crystal Palace later that day.



Credit: 90min.com

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