Ultimately, however, Mikel Arteta’s side had lost their way by the time Rashford scored his second after picking up Christian Eriksen’s superb pass at a breakdown, killing them off in a match that felt like the cruiserweights they were running against each other with zero. postponement. At the final whistle Arsenal remained top of the league with 15 points, while United moved up to fifth with 12, terrible defeats in their opening two matches to drop away and their future, after this fourth straight win, looked ever brighter. . The opening exchanges gave an indication of the show that followed, with touches for Antony, some trickery from Diogo Dalot down the left and an Arsenal counter in which Gabriel Jesus fouled Lisandro Martínez. Martin Edgard took the resulting free kick and Bruno Fernandes headed clear. When Scott McTominay stole the ball from Jesus, the latter was left paralyzed on the floor. Paul Tierney stopped the match due to concerns about a possible head injury and when the referee restarted United he seriously threatened. Antony was at a dead end but a clever tackle allowed him to tee up Dalot whose cross hit Eriksen’s boot but he missed. A subsequent, frenetic phase had Arsenal attacking down the wing and a free-kick saw the ball fall to William Saliba, who pounced. When they attacked again, it would spark the last VAR controversy of the era. Eriksen was dispossessed by Ødegaard in midfield and Bucayo Saka sent a defending pass to Gabriel Martinelli. His finish, as David de Gea ran out, was nice, but when Tierney headed for the pitchside monitor, there was only going to be one result. Ødegaard was adjudged to have fouled Eriksen – it looked borderline – and the strike was disallowed. Manchester United’s Anthony, right, scores the opening goal in the win against Arsenal. Photo: Dave Thompson/AP It was disappointing for the visitors, but the move was as strong a warning as the way Saka skated past Tyrell Malacia moments later as if the left-back was in chains. Arteta’s charges were as prescient as United didn’t bow, as evidenced by Antony’s jink and Jadon Sancho’s quick feet when he received from Martínez. Martinelli emerged as the preeminent performer. He was a constant threat on the left, often in conjunction with Ødegaard. When the latter flicked the ball onto the Brazilian’s head, only a panther-like leap from De Gea kept United level. What happened next was a dream for Antonis. The new man had offered up some dummies on the right that drew derision. But when United attacked once more, Fernandes fed Sancho and he found Rashford. The No 10 flicked a pass to Antony and, to his left, beat Aaron Ramsdale to spark pandemonium on the pitch. After plenty of club sign bashing, his celebration ended with a comic mime to the camera, like a cat’s claws. Later, he said: “I will never forget this day – let’s go for more, this is just the beginning. Nice to finally meet you Old Trafford.” The second half of this all-out clash began without a break in the attacking play. Again it came mainly from Arsenal, whose control of tempo and territory sprung up. What they needed was an equaliser. It looked strong at most moments, as did a United breakaway for a second – that latter tactic being their dominant trick. Ødegaard spurned a simple chance, firing wide from close range, then Saka’s turn left a stick at goal, but that too was off target. Arteta, whose line-up was at full strength minus Thomas Partey, was a one-man signalman act. Ten Haag gave an indicator of his own thinking when he replaced Antoni with Cristiano Ronaldo on 57 minutes: the diametric opposite of a protect-what-we-have strategy. Raphael Varane, tasked with doing just that as United’s senior defender, fell short as Arsenal grabbed a deserved equaliser. The No. 19 passed straight to Ødegaard, whose delivery for Jesus failed Dalot, leaving Saka to head home from 12 yards. What followed was essentially United’s first attacking thrust of the half. Eriksen flicked a pass behind Arsenal’s back four and towards Rashford, but he fell. But Rashford made no mistake soon after when Eriksen teed up Fernandes who freed the striker to smash the ball past Ramsdale. Rashford’s smile beamed with joy. Ten Haag immediately took Sancho off for Fred to stabilize his side before Rashford made it 3-1. It felt like United, for the first time in a long time, were playing a serious match against a serious opponent, which they did for the remaining minutes until Tierney blazed over at full-time to signal the delight of the home fans. As Rashford said: “It’s always a big game again. It was a big test for us today. They are a good team and they know the principles of their game and they are very good at it. We showed up and rose to the challenge. We can be proud of ourselves. It’s good to get into a rhythm.”
