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Arsenal 1-1 Man Utd (3-5 pens): Match report & talking points from FA Cup classic
Altay Bayindir was the hero for 10-man Manchester United as he saved penalties in normal time and in the shootout to send his side into the FA Cup fourth round.
Arsenal spurned a host of high-quality chances at the Emirates Stadium and were punished on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Substitute Joshua Zirkzee completed a perfect shootout for the visitors to knock Mikel Arteta’s men out.
Diogo Dalot was shown a red card in the 61st minute to increase the pressure on his defensive team-mates, but they were equal to the task. Meanwhile, Arsenal’s injury problems worsened as Gabriel Jesus left the pitch on a stretcher in the first half with a bad knee injury.
Manchester United will host Leicester City, managed by Ruud van Nistelrooy, in the FA Cup fourth round.
Arsenal 1 Man United 1 (Utd win 5-3 on pens): Missed chances, a red, pens and needle in cup thriller
Perhaps the penalty shootout was always going to go United’s way: they won the toss to go first and to kick in front of their own fans. And Arsenal had spent 120 minutes being wasteful from two yards out — never mind 12.
You could hardly pick fault with any of United’s five penalties, though. Most of them were nervelessly caressed into the corner, starting with the captain’s. Fernandes rarely errs from the spot. Odegaard made amends for his miss in normal time, getting the better of Bayindir on this occasion, but United’s man-of-the-match brilliantly denied Havertz the next time an Arsenal player stepped up to hand his side the advantage.
It was a lead they never surrendered, whether choosing power like Amad, or placement like Lisandro Martinez and Leny Yoro. The latter’s angled kick into the side netting belied his 19 years of age. That perfect record left Zirkzee the opportunity to win it with United’s fifth kick.
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Joshua Zirkzee has had to endure some tough moments in his Manchester United career, so who can blame him for enjoying sealing the victory for his team?
I can’t even begin to imagine how that must feel in front of 8,000 travelling supporters going wild!
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Same corner, same outcome in the shootout.
Only one penalty save from eight penalties in the shootout and it went to Bayindir who flew across his line (again) to keep out Kai Havertz.
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Until this point, Altay Bayindir didn’t have the best of games. But he turned into a man possessed once Odegaard placed the ball on the spot for his penalty in the 70th minute.
The match in photos: Penalty to Arsenal…
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Harry Maguire could not believe that Andy Madley pointed to the penalty spot. And he wasn’t the only one, the contact from the United centre-back was not enough for a foul, for me.
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And that advantage vanished even further when Gabriel made Dalot pay for his stupidity — his deflected strike wrong-footed Bayindir less than two minutes after Dalot’s sending off.
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But it didn’t take long for Manchester United to surrender their advantage in the match — Dalot was sent off for a stupid challenge on Merino just after the half-hour mark.
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It was a devastating counter attack and an emphatic finish from Bruno Fernandes that gave United the lead in the 52nd minute.
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Given the chaos of the second half, extra time and the penalty shootout, it is easy to forget that there was nasty looking first-half injury for Gabriel Jesus.
He left the pitch on a stretcher after seemingly injuring his knee and Arteta claimed after the match that it was not looking good for the Brazilian.
With injuries to Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri already, Arsenal’s already dwindling attacking reserves continue to deplete.