rAiming to lay to rest the demons of last weekend’s disappointing 2-2 draw against Fulham, Arsenal started brightly against one of their oldest foes.
If Mikel Arteta could have picked one man for a golden early chance to fall to, then Kai Havertz would probably have been amongst the front-runners as he seeks to ignite his Arsenal career.
Such is the drained confidence of the German though, when the ball dropped favourably for him in the box, a complete miscue of his strike just about summed up his spell at the Emirates so far.
His miss looked even more costly midway through the first half, as despite barely crossing the halfway line in an attacking sense, United snatched a surprise lead.
Christian Eriksen was the architect, threading through an inch-perfect pass for Marcus Rashford, who stepped in off the left and caressed an effort in off the post.
Their joy was short-lived though, as United’s lead was wiped out inside 35 seconds. Straight from the restart, Arsenal set about restoring order and did so in fine fashion when Martin Odegaard swept home to finish off a brilliant team move.
As expected, United were far sprightlier after the break, and their new-found attacking intent almost paid dividends, but Anthony Martial’s initial effort was beaten away by Aaron Ramsdale before Rashford’s follow-up was blocked by William Saliba.
The opening stages of the second half were certainly end-to-end, and it was United’s turn for a reprieve soon after.
Havertz was seemingly felled in the area by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but after Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot, he reversed his decision after consulting the pitchside monitor.
In a thrilling final 10 minutes of what was a gripping encounter, United substitute Alejandro Garnacho thought he’d won the game for Erik ten Hag’s side, but despite the delirious scenes in the away end, the young Argentine had strayed inches offside in the build-up.
That left the game wide open, and clearly incentivised by their let-off, Arsenal snatched a dramatic late winner when Rice’s deflected effort squirmed beneath Andre Onana and lifted the roof off the Emirates.
United's second defeat of the campaign would soon be confirmed as they were caught on the counter, with Gabriel Jesus showing incredible composure to move past Diogo Dalot and slot home his first goal of the season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Declan Rice (Arsenal)
