Cunha’s stunner earns Manchester United thrilling late win at Arsenal

The Emirates Stadium was a sea of anxiety. Arsenal fans are acutely aware that a first Premier League title since 2004 is within their grasp and when it is so tantalising, it will be fraught. Especially when matches such as this become a grind. When the attacking patterns do not work. When the team look vulnerable. Everybody knows what they stand to lose.

Arsenal could feel their nearest rivals, Manchester City and Aston Villa, on their backs. Both had won to cut their lead at the top to four points. Mikel Arteta’s side had drawn the previous two league matches 0-0 – against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. They were desperate for something here and when Patrick Dorgu put Manchester United 2-1 up with a scorching drive early in the second half, they would have taken anything. They ended with nothing – apart from another set of worry lines.

Arsenal had lost only twice previously all season and for a moment they thought they had dug themselves out of the hole. It was a set piece, of course, Bukayo Saka’s 84th-minute delivery leading to chaos, an unholy mass of bodies inside the United six‑yard box. Mikel Merino, on as a substitute, touched home.

United were not finished. They played with personality after going behind to a Lisandro Martínez own goal on 29 minutes. They were the better side thereafter, coming to enjoy the ball, to manipulate it with progressive intent. It was as if they could feel the tension in Arsenal bodies and were resolved to feed on it.

United had been boosted out of all proportion by the win against City at Old Trafford last weekend in the first game of Michael Carrick’s second period as the interim manager. The confidence was back with a bang, a sense of liberation, and it helped them to fashion a stunning late sting.

Matheus Cunha was the hero. He was in the mood after coming on as a substitute, eager to ask questions of the most miserly defence in the league, who suddenly did not look so intimidating. United worked the ball neatly between Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo, and when Cunha found the space at the back of the Arsenal midfield, he shaped a sensational curler from distance beyond the reach of David Raya.

United remain in dreamland under Carrick, this the definition of the new‑manager bounce. They have charged up into fourth and it feels like more than mere green shoots of optimism. Now if they can only begin to perform against the smaller fry.

It was cagey at the outset. Arsenal had a clear chance on 19 minutes from a Declan Rice free-kick, Martín Zubimendi getting the better of Casemiro to finesse a clean‑headed connection. Senne Lammens made a fine reflex save. And that was about it until the opening goal.

It was clear that the transitions would be key. When Fernandes was robbed in the opening exchanges, Arsenal played up to William Saliba, who had popped up on the right. He went inside to Rice, whose shot was blocked by Martínez.

Arsenal looked to their right side. To Saka. And to Jurriën Timber, who had made his first run up and inside from the full‑back position in the seventh minute. He wanted to stretch United. He was in the right place to help break the deadlock. Dorgu failed to get distance on a clearing header and Saka’s first touch was beautiful. He chipped inside and, when Martin Ødegaard helped it on, Timber challenged with Martínez and the ball squirmed home.

United’s response was good, whereas Arsenal came to lack direction. Bryan Mbeumo almost got away only for Saliba to chase back, Fernandes lashing wide on the second phase. Mbeumo also played in Fernandes but Saliba did enough to put him off.

The equaliser was a personal disaster for Zubimendi, who took a ball from Saliba as the last man in Arsenal’s defensive third. It was hard to know what he was trying to do with his pass. Was he looking for Raya? He scuffed it straight to Mbeumo, who was one-on-one with Raya. The United striker dropped his shoulder to buy the yard he needed. It was a cool finish.

It had been strange to see the swagger about the United fans beforehand; how the nerves belonged to their Arsenal counterparts. Was this a free hit for Carrick, who had beaten Arsenal at the end of his first spell in 2021-22? That was a chaotic 3-2 at Old Trafford.

The Emirates Stadium crowd grew more anxious when United began the second half on the front foot. Carrick’s team sensed opportunity and how Dorgu took it. He has been reborn since being tried in a more advanced role on the wing; his struggles at left-back feel increasingly distant. After his goal against City, this was another stunning dividend.

Dorgu played a give-and-go not once but twice with Fernandes, controlling the second time with his hip, Arsenal appealing in vain for handball against him. When the ball sat up, Dorgu sent a viciously swerving left-footed effort past Raya and in off the underside of the crossbar. Moments later, he stormed up the inside left to flash a shot high. United were in control.

Arteta made a quadruple substitution on 57 minutes, introducing Ben White, Merino, Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyökeres. He had preferred Gabriel Jesus to the latter in the starting XI; neither got any change out of Harry Maguire and Martínez.

Merino wanted a penalty when his shot hit Maguire’s hand – it was in a natural position – and Saka worked Lammens from a tight angle to win the corner from which Merino brought the hope, the relief. Cunha trampled all over it.

[Source: The Guardian]