FA Cup: 10-man Manchester United knock Arsenal out on penalties
What's the story
In a nail-biting encounter, Arsenal were beaten by holders Manchester United in the 3rd round of the FA Cup tie at the Emirates on Sunday.
After a goalless first half, United took the lead via Bruno Fernandes.
Thereafter, Diogo Dalot was sent off for a second yellow card offence.
Arsenal scored almost instantly via Gabriel. The Gunners missed a host of chances and also saw a penalty get saved.
United forced extra time and then penalties to win the match.
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Man United win 5-3 on penalties
Man United won the contest 5-3 on penalties. Fernandes opened the scoring with Martin Odegaard making it 1-1. Amad Diallo made it 2-1 for the visitors before Kai Havertz's penalty got saved. Both sides scored their next two penalties. Joshua Zirkzee stepped in and scored United's 5th.
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Here are the match stats
Arsenal had 26 attempts in 120 minutes, including extra time with 7 shots being on target. The visitors had four shots on target from 7 attempts. Arsenal owned 71% ball possession and an 87% pass accuracy from 656 passes. Arsenal also had 55 touches in United's box.
Change
From ecstacy to agony for Man United
Ruben Amorim's men went ahead via an excellent Fernandes goal in the 52nd minute.
It was Alejandro Garnacho who took advantage of a Gabriel slip and crossed for the midfielder to curl the ball into the top corner.
Dalot was then sent off in the 61st minute after a second clumsy tackle.
Arsenal equalized almost immediately as centre-back Gabriel volleyed in from inside the area.
Chances
Bayindir stays strong and denies Arsenal
Havertz was adjudged to have been brought down by defender Harry Maguire in the box and referee Andrew Madley awarded a penalty.
Things heated up as Maguire, Havertz and Gabriel were all booked.
Arsenal captain Odegaard then stepped up but Altay Bayindir dived to his left to push away the ball.
Mikel Arteta's side has several big chances through the likes of Declan Rice and Havertz but Bayindir stayed strong and denied them all.
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United dig deep in extra-time
United dug deep in extra-time and defended their skins out. United looked dangerous on the break and created the better chances in the last period of extra-time. However, Arsenal let United off the hook with some poor finishing.
Fernandes
Contrasting records for Fernandes
United's Fernandes received a yellow card in the 1st half.
As per Opta, since his United debut in February 2020, no Premier League player has received more cautions and red cards combined in all competitions than Fernandes (50 - 47 yellow cards, 3 red cards).
Fernandes became the joint-top scorer in the FA Cup (9) since his first game in the competition (March 2020).
Kevin De Bruyne (17) has been directly involved in more goals (14) in the same period.
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Fernandes races to 86 goals for Man United
Fernandes netted his 7th goal in 29 matches across competitions this season. Overall, he raced to 86 goals for the club in 262 appearances.
Opta stats
Key records made as United beat the Gunners
Arsenal have now lost five of their last six FA Cup matches. This was the 2nd successive occasion in which Arsenal have been eliminated in the 3rd round of the competition.
This was the ninth time United knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup.
The Red Devils have now won three of their last 4 penalty shootouts in all competitons.
Twitter Post
Twitter Post
Cool. Calm. Collected.
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) January 12, 2025
Joshua Zirkzee fires @ManUtd into the #EmiratesFACup fourth round! 💥 pic.twitter.com/0pOrgQHmQn