A night to remember for United as against the odds, we still managed to pull off the unthinkable.
Ruben Amorim actually had a smile on his face during that game which isn't something that we see often. Most of the time, he is quite serious even when his team play well or score.
But that just showed the space we were in as a team that we believed something good was going to happen.
And so it came to pass 😄.
1. Too many long balls
This wasn't something that I expected to see.
I'm not sure why we saw the return of the long ball. This isn't what United and Amorim want to do especially when playing out from the back.
Whether this was to do with Bayindir in goal instead of Onana (with the Turkish international being shakier than the United number 1 with the ball at his feet or the fact that we were playing Arsenal), something changed tactically from the manager to instruct his team to go long.
The problem with this is that often, the ball was lost because Gabriel and Saliba were dominant against a struggling Hojlund or Bayindir would kick the ball into touch.
The ball went out for a throw in on many occassions particularly down the left which was an obvious instruction from the manager to aim for that area but too much curve saw it go out of play.
This resulted in United giving the ball away easily and Arsenal getting control of the game.
The Gunners did also implement a very good high press which could've been another reason as to why we saw the long ball.
2. Midfield looked off
What I mean is that they looked slow and flat with Arsenal sort of overrunning all of Mainoo, Bruno and Ugarte, although out of the three, Ugarte was still the best.
However, he seemed to be doing a lone job at times because Arsenal had a lot of control in that area of the pitch. For long periods, Martin Odegaard when he wasn't missing penalties, was dictating the play.
The Norwegian got a lot of joy on the ball as he found himself in a lot of space and time allowing him to create chances for his side. United couldn't really get a grip on him and it was causing us a lot of problems.
I felt that Mainoo in particular was a little sluggish at times defensively which didn't help us no end. It almost looks like when United have a lot of the ball, Mainoo is superb. Without it, he can be found wanting as he does ball watch a lot.
I also didn't like that we didn't pressure someone like Jorginho who can be quite weak. He was a player I felt that we could target.
It was a contrast in midfield (and for United overall) in terms of this performance as we went from what we saw at Anfield to this. That inconsistency was still there but it was overshadowed by everything else.
3. Tactical switch
Amorim used Garnacho on the right of the two CAMs. The 20-year-old usually plays out on the left. It is his best position and one where he can cause a lot more problems compared to when on the opposite flank.
However, this proved correct as Garnacho had one of his better games in a while. He didn't get much of the ball but when he did, he looked like he could make something happen, not something that he is known for out on the right though.
His influence on the right just isn't the same.
Nonetheless, he was a constant threat as he did look the likeliest of any United player to make something happen in attack.
His assist came from that right-wing too. He did get a little fortunate with that slip from Gabriel but there was still lots to do.
Dribbling forward with the ball like that at speed whilst looking for options isn't something that is easily done. We also know that with Garnacho, his decision-making can be quite off.
This time though, he made the right choice.
He actually picked his head up (which isn't something he does enough) and saw the pass to Bruno. He plays a simple ball and the captain does the rest.
This tactical switch by Amorim proved to be correct as like I said, Garnacho had one of his best games under the Portuguese.
By playing on the right, this also took away that urge to cut in and shoot as Garnacho is not confident on his weaker left. Perhaps that is a position that the youngster can play in in the future?
The other switch was in the second half as wing-backs Mazraoui and Dalot swapped over.
This didn't work quite so well in my opinion as Mazraoui looked a little less comfortable and panicked in situations that he wouldn't usually when on his preferred right.
Dalot obviously got sent off which meant that him moving to what is his preferred right, failed. This resulted in Garnacho having to do a lot of defensive work, which the boy did pretty well.
This isn't a part of his game that is at the level required but for this match, he showed that he can do the job going the other way.
I'm not actually sure why Amorim swapped the wing-backs though.
4. Improvement at set-pieces
There was a hell of an improvement from United when it came to defending Arsenal's corners, free-kicks and throw-ins.
Everyone knows that Arteta's team have a reputation for being incredible at corners especially but at no point did I feel overly threatened.
Yes the chance was always there because of how good they are from corners and how poor we are at defending them but even with the Gunners crowding a suspect Bayindir in goal, United still managed to defend the situation pretty well.
Unlike the league fixture, the organization and determination from the team in general was much better. Every time Arsenal had a corner a month ago, it looked like we could concede. This time was quite the opposite. To go from one end of the spectrum to the other is a very good achievement from Amorim, his coaches and players. Such a differnece in a short space of time.
It wasn't only Arsenal who were causing us problems as United conceded 2 goals directly from corners as both Bayindir and Onana were caught out in the losses to Spurs and Wolves.
Amorim spoke as much about how his side need to be better at defending set-pieces so he would've been very happy with what he saw last night.
In his post-match presser, the manager had this to say regarding set-pieces:
"The set pieces are not my part, and today we were amazing on set pieces. So Carlos [Fernandes] was very good, Andreas [Georgson] was very good, and Emmanuel [Ferro] was really good. They chose the right players to score the penalties."
He even gave a shoutout for those selected in the shootout.
5. Character
I mentioned this after last week's draw against Liverpool in a match that could've easily gone the wrong way. We surprisingly took the lead but lost it and with 20 minutes to go and a rampant LFC, we could've crumbled.
We didn't and in the end got the late equalizer. United also could've won it at the end which showed how much figthback this team showed.
That character was on full display again from the sending off onwards against Arsenal.
While it wasn't great, I believe that going down to 10 men was maybe a blessing in disguise. This appeared to bring the players a lot closer and make them more united.
We ran harder, worked more, put more effort in, the concentration levels went up. Amorim's players looked like a completely different animal once Dalot was sent off.
We also conceded straight after that red which is still a frustrating part of our game to let the opposition score so soon after something went against us, but that didn't deter us and while Arsenal did create chances (which was always going to happen), we still kept our heads and managed to keep them out.
Bayaindir became de Gea, Maguire was world class and for me, the sort of 'unsung hero' of the game, was De Ligt.
Much like Maguire's performance, the Dutchman threw himself at everything. He made a couple of goal-saving blocks, he towered above most in the air, was very strong, his determination to get into great defensive positions was brilliant, the speed at which he got there was even better and how well he read the game was superb.
This all culminated in that unbelievable clearance off Trossard when it looked for all the money that the Belgian will score with an open goal gaping in front of him.
De Ligt's celebration after that clearance showed just how much it meant to him (and the team) and also the type of character he has.
The moment where the softest penalty you will ever see was given was also another standout moment of that character and unity from United.
Havertz clearly dived which incensed Maguire. The Englishman doesn't often lose his cool which would suggest to you that something is wrong.
That sparked a brawl between both sets of players to which United's backed up the former captain. ALL players were involved and ALL were sticking up for their teammate.
Ugarte in particular showed that typical South American fire as he along with Garnacho (a fellow South American) put Havertz on his arse.
I LOVE this fight and backing up of your teammates. This isn't something we often see from this group of players as in the past, even with injustices, the team will be all over the place with no one standing up for their teammate who was harshly done by.
That wasn't the case yesterday.
The substitutes and particularly Yoro and Zirkzee also displayed that character as for them to come on and take two crunch penalties required a lot of steel.
They put it away like nothing.
Even the United admin on X was getting in on the act 😂.
But this type of character can only be down to the manager.
What Amorim has done to this squad in just 2 months is nothing short of remarkable. We are now seeing a more determined team that which we didn't see before.
There were several moments in the game where almost the entire team was busting a gut to get back and help the team out defensively whenever Arsenal went on the offensive.
Before, we would see a side laboring and energy-less, almost like they couldn't care less, about getting back in defence.
That character from the manager and players led to us not dropping our heads and getting that win against the odds.
We really couldn't have asked for anything more.
Amorim speaks a lot about how it's down to the mindset of the players and how much they want it that will determine how well they perform.
They surely wanted it against those cheats.
Background Image: Man Utd celebrate penalty shootout win over Arsenal - Arsenal 1-1 Man Utd (3-5p) | Creator: Julian Finney | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2025 Getty Images via Man Utd News