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10 Man Manchester United Hang On To Beat Arsenal

Manchester United faced Arsenal in the FA Cup on 12th January 2025. Arsenal were the clear favourites going into the game, especially since the game was being held at Arsenal’s home ground, the Emirates Stadium. However, things did not go exactly as planned, and Mikel Arteta’s side ended up losing on penalties to Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United. This article talks about this FA Cup game and how Manchester United ended up hanging on and beating Arsenal despite picking up a red card and being reduced to 10 men.

Manchester United Beats Arsenal On Penalties

Despite the fact that Arsenal were the favourites to win, it was Manchester United who ended up scoring first in the game to open the scoring. Diogo Dalot headed a ball from Maguire into the path of Garnacho, who managed to get the better of his mark and unleashed his pace on the right wing. Garnacho charged into the penalty area before selflessly playing a low pass right into the path of Bruno Fernandes. Fernandes walked onto the ball and struck it first time, hammering it past David Ray and into the top right corner to give Manchester United the lead in the 52nd minute.

It looked like Manchester United would try to manage the game from this point onwards, but Diego Dalot, who picked up a yellow card in the 49th minute, put Manchester United in a very precarious position. Dalot slid in carelessly despite being on a yellow and slightly mistimed his tackle. Instead of getting the ball, Dalot ends up hitting Mikel Merino’s ankle, and instantly, Arsenal players start crowding the referee, demanding a second yellow card. The referee sees no choice but to oblige and pulls out a second yellow card, giving Diogo Dalot his marching orders and pegging Manchester United down to 10 men.

Just two minutes after Diogo Dalot’s red card, Arsenal took advantage of having an extra player on the pitch. Gabriel Martinelli’s cross from the left wing is dealt with poorly by Altay Bayinder, and Mainoo follows up by trying to head the ball out of danger. However, his header goes straight to Gabriel, who manages to swivel and hit a volley with his left foot. It looked like Bayinder would be able to make a save, but the shot took a huge deflection on the way to the goal, which left Bayinder in no man’s land, and he could only watch as the ball bounced past him and into the net.

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After Arsenal managed to get an equaliser in the 63rd minute, it looked like they would very easily overpower the 10-man Manchester United and win the game. They got a huge chance in the 72nd minute when Harry Maguire was deemed to have fouled Kai Havertz inside the penalty box, and the Gunners were awarded a controversial penalty. Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard stepped up to the penalty and kept it low and on target, but Altay Bayinder guessed the correct way and managed to make an outstanding save to keep Manchester United in the game.

Martin Ødegaard had never failed to score a penalty in his senior football career.

And then he faced Altay Bayindir… pic.twitter.com/uIyFFTtJDF

— george (@StokeyyG2) January 12, 2025

The game ended up staying at 1-1 till the 90th minute, forcing the match into extra-time. However, the extra time also resulted in no results, as neither team was able to score. Arsenal had a plethora of chances to get a winner and send Manchester United packing, but they were unable to convert even one chance since their equaliser was in the 63rd minute. Despite having played an extra 30 minutes of extra time, the deadlock between Manchester United and Arsenal could not be broken, and the game was forced to go into penalties.

Manchester United’s goalkeeper, Altay Bayinder, had already saved a penalty in regulation time, which would have given him some additional confidence. Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo scored comfortably for Manchester United, while Odegaard did the same, this time converting his penalty. However, Kai Havertz stepped up to take Arsenal’s second penalty, and a brilliant dive by Bayinder saw him prevent the German star from scoring, which gave Manchester United the lead in the shootout.

Leny Yoro stepped up for United to make it 3-1 before Declan Rice pulled one back for Arsenal. Lisandro Martinez sent David Raya the wrong way before Thomas Partey scored his penalty to keep Arsenal in the game. It all came down to United’s fifth penalty; if Joshua Zirkzee scored, Manchester United would have won the game, and that is exactly what he did. He slotted the ball into the bottom corner, off the post, to score Manchester United’s fifth penalty and hand them the win over Arsenal. Given the circumstances and the fact that Manchester United had a red card but still managed to knock Arsenal out of the FA Cup, this result was a huge upset.

For more news and updates on Manchester United and Arsenal, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram.

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