I was at Old Trafford when Man United lost to Arsenal, here’s what I saw that you might’ve missed
Manchester United opened their Premier League season with defeat against Arsenal.
Ruben Amorim‘s men were beaten 1-0 by Arsenal, with Riccardo Calafiori’s header against Manchester United proving the difference.
A lot of people will judge Sunday’s result as a typical ‘1-0 to the Arsenal’ show, with Manchester United struggling to bury the sins of last year, but I don’t see it like that at all.
Having watched the game at Old Trafford, here are three main things that stood out to me…
Ruben Amorim’s unseen smirk
In the press conference after the game, Amorim scoffed at the new rules of protecting goalkeepers and cautioning offences during set-pieces for Altay Bayindir’s mistake against Arsenal.
But he let himself enjoy a little moment of justice when David Raya was booked for time wasting during his goal kicks in the second half.
I looked down at the touchline and saw a wry smile gleam on the face of Amorim.
He even did a nonchalant shrug to the dugout to indicate that this should’ve happened ages ago… And as usual, he was right!
Mikel Arteta’s dark arts
At around the 70th-minute mark, with Manchester United searching for that equaliser, I saw Mikel Arteta race outside of his technical area.
He was annoyed with the referee and ‘mistakenly’ got in Patrick Dorgu‘s way, which prevented him from taking a quick throw-in — all while Ben White was conveniently out of position.
The chorus of ‘same old Arsenal, always cheating’ from the Stretford End summed up the feeling nicely!
Matheus Cunha is going to be one of Man United’s best signings
What a signing Matheus Cunha is going to be!
Although Manchester United lost, Cunha sent his teammates a rallying cry on social media, proving just how integral he is going to be going forward.
All of last season (and through the Erik ten Hag era), Manchester United struggled to physically ‘carry’ the ball through the final third.
Not least because of the lack of guile and confidence of the attacking players to try their luck and beat the odds.
So, to see Cunha take the ball on the spin, drive at defenders, and regularly bypass some of the best ones in the league is a true cause for optimism for United.