Manchester United held on for an hour with ten men to force a penalty shootout against Arsenal in the FA Cup third round.
United started quite well, controlling the majority of the opening minutes of play and demonstrating some good pressing out of possession. The opening 10 minutes passed by without much action occurring, as both teams seemed happy to get a feel for the match and the occasion.
In the 17th minute of action, the game burst into life when Gabriel Martinelli was put in after a deflected pass and he made no mistake, cooly slotting home. Luckily for United, the linesman eventually put up his flag and the scoreline remained scoreless.
United eventually got their first attempt on goal after 24 minutes, when Kobbie Mainoo picked up the ball from midfield and he turned into space and fired a decent strike at goal, but it was comfortably stopped by David Raya.
Ten minutes passed with the Gunners holding onto the ball and having a couple of set pieces, but the United defence handled it well. They did break free with a long ball from Bruno Fernandes in the 35th minute that Garnacho ran on to but could only fire a tame effort right at Raya.
In the 38th minute, the United captain felt he should have had a free kick when he was brought down when he was about to shoot just outside the area but the referee waved play on. Incensed by the decision, Fernandes threw his boot on the ground twice and the referee booked him for dissent.
It was yet another petulant response by United’s number eight, who has faced numerous complaints about his discipline this season as he has been sent off three times already.
The first half ended with Ruben Amorim probably the happier of the two managers but with both teams knowing they had a lot more to show in an attacking sense.
The second half started with the Gunners once again in possession but after 49 minutes, Diogo Dalot dived in and gave Arsenal a dangerous-looking free kick from just outside the penalty box. It was once again dealt well with by Maguire.
The travelling fans went into raptures shortly after when on the 52nd minute, Bruno Fernandes fired the away side into the lead.
Alejandro Garnacho broke away from Gabriel and picked the right pass to United’s captain, who hit a beautiful strike into the back of the net.
The away side almost gave away an immediate equaliser when Maguire headed the ball right into the path of Kai Havertz, but he wildly fired wide of the mark.
Disaster struck for United when Dalot was sent off for a second yellow card and only moments later they conceded an equaliser.
It was a tackle Dalot didn’t need to make in spite of his protests and United were punished when a poor punch by Bayindir eventually fell to Gabriel who fired in an equaliser, with a helpful deflection from De Ligt.
United now knew they would face the rest of the tie with only ten men. Their afternoon turned even worse when Maguire was harshly judged to bring down Havertz in the penalty area. There was little sign of contact and the German seemed to go down under very little pressure.
Justice was eventually done however, as Bayindir stretched out his huge frame to parry away Odegaard’s penalty and wild celebrations broke out in the United team, especially from the under-fire Turkish keeper.
Clearly full of confidence, Bayindir was the hero once again as he tipped a free header from Declan Rice over the bar at full stretch after 75 minutes of play.
United made a triple change with only 10 minutes left to play as Amad Diallo, Toby Collyer and Joshua Zirkzee made their way onto the pitch to add more energy for the ten men.
In the 86th minute, Zirkzee showed good skill to break away on the counter and he released Amad Diallo who played the ball almost immediately back, but the big Dutchman’s shot was well blocked by the Arsenal defence.
Almost right after, Odegaard played a great ball in and everyone missed the ball as it fell to Havertz. Once again the former Chelsea man fluffed his lines as he somehow scooped the ball over from close range to give United another let off.
Bayindir was the hero once more as in the 94th minute he made a smart save down low to turn away a goalbound Declan Rice effort.
United held on to see out a 1-1 draw despite playing most of the second half with one man less and the game went to extra time.
Four minutes into extra time, Arsenal were in again but De Ligt slid in to make a sensational block from Rice’s fierce effort.
United fans had their hearts in their mouths once again when Havertz was played in and put the ball across the six yard box but De Ligt heroically managed to clear the ball from right under his own crossbar to keep the scores level.
Amorim’s men broke well at the start of the second half and Amad drove at the defence and played in Zirkzee, whose well-placed shot was stopped acrobatically by the Spanish keeper.
Arsenal continued to have much of the ball but the United defence stood firm and the game went to a penalty shootout.
Bayindir was the hero once again as he stopped the decisive penalty in the shootout from Havertz. In a lovely finish, Zirkzee had the chance to be the hero and he cooly converted United’s fifth successive penalty to secure an epic victory that will live long in the memory.
Starting XI: Bayindir, De Ligt, Maguire, Martinez, Mazraoui, Dalot, Ugarte, Mainoo, Garnacho, Fernandes, Hojlund
Subs: Zirkzee, Collyer, Amad, Malacia, Yoro
Featured image Julian Finney via Getty Images
Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
