Manchester United turned up for yet another big game, this time against Arsenal in the Premier League with Ruben Amorim’s side claiming a point from their 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The head coach had predicted that the hosts would have to survive against the second-placed Gunners and it certainly did look that way in the initial stages.
But in the second half, the Red Devils should have scored at least three goals but for some incredible saves from David Raya as he thwarted Noussair Mazraoui, who enjoyed a stellar game, Joshua Zirkzee and Bruno Fernandes right at the death.
If Amorim would have been a bit more braver with his substitutions, things could have turned out different with Rasmus Hojlund failing to put away two gilt-edged chances. Chido Obi, sitting on the bench, would have been a better option.
Eriksen on the game plan
“If you look at the chances, we could have won it. We tried to play on the counter as much as possible which was the game plan,” Christian Eriksen, who started the game in place of the struggling Danish striker, told Sky Sports (via The Mirror).
Declan Rice scored the North London side’s equaliser in the 74th minute while it was Bruno Fernandes who handed the lead to the home side at the stroke of half-time.
It was a fantastic free-kick from the edge of the box but there was controversy over the placement of the Arsenal wall with the visitors complaining to referee Anthony Taylor that they were more than 10 yards away from the ball.
The Arsenal wall was in fact 11.2 yards and both Mikel Arteta and pundits raised a hue and cry over the incident at half time.
“Very good, happy that the wall was about 15 metres away. You saw how far back they were and it was beneficial for us. We felt relief from the fans in the stadium after the goal,” Eriksen cheekily added.
Referee talk
But Fernandes’ free-kick was struck to perfection and instead of the referee, question marks should have been raised over the goalkeeper’s positioning.
In fact, the referee tried to extend the same favour to the visiting side in the second half when Martin Odegaard stood over the dead ball.
However, the Arsenal skipper was not as good as his United counterpart and struck the wall from an even more promising position.
Taylor is no stranger to controversy and it was in fact the same referee who had cost the 20-time English league champions a few seasons ago, back when Erik ten Hag was the coach, in a league game against Aston Villa.
Feature image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
