The tactics behind a memorable Arsenal win over Manchester United

Mikel Arteta and Erik ten Hag’s teams served up a closely fought match that ended with pandemonium. The final 12 minutes saw a dramatic conclusion, with Arsenal scoring twice in more than 10 minutes of stoppage time. This followed a marginal offside call that chalked off what had looked like an 88th-minute winner from Manchester United substitute Alejandro Garnacho.

For much of the game, both teams laboured to wear down the opposition. The match burst into life briefly on 27 minutes, when Marcus Rashford finished from a fine Christian Eriksen through ball. Only 35 seconds later, Martin Ødegaard rounded off an Arsenal passing move to restore parity.

In the second half, referee Anthony Taylor overturned his original decision to give Arsenal a penalty, following intervention from the video assistant referee. The technology was on hand again to rule Garnacho offside late on. But there was no reprieve for United as the game reached its thrilling conclusion.

Six minutes into added time, Declan Rice took advantage of space at the far post from a corner, finishing with help from a Jonny Evans deflection. Gabriel Jesus made sure of victory when he flew clear on the break, cut inside Diogo Dalot and slid the ball past André Onana. Cue scenes of joy among the home players, staff and supporters, leaving United to rue the late turnaround.

How the managers saw it

“A team needs different tools to win football matches, and the capacity to react,” said Arteta after the game. “We did that in the first half, and that set the tone and brought some calmness to the team.”

The Arsenal manager was wary of United’s threat on transitions: “We talked about losing the ball inside the first two passes – against this team, you are kaput. We did it again. In the second half, they could’ve scored, but it was overturned. For the rest of the game, the win, the determination, the eagerness of the team, the way we showed that will to win and that mentality to go and go and go, I’m so proud of.”

Despite the result, Erik ten Hag saw positive signs from his Manchester United team. “We are more compact, very good defending, high block, lower block,” he explained. “Everyone was involved, and then we break like the first goal. I think on the ball we were calm, and of course I see also room for improvement and the moment where we can go forward. We missed, I think, some passes forward… it could have hurt them more. But I think, overall, I'm happy with the performance from the team.”

Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches pick out three key tactical points from the game…

United flip their strategy

Ten Hag lined Manchester United up in a 4-2-3-1, and they looked to play out from the back in the first half. The visitors dominated the ball thanks to multiple short passes and no consistent high press from Arsenal. They rarely posed an attacking threat in the first half, however, playing mostly inside their own half. Goalkeeper Onana joined the back line, while one of the centre-backs moved into central midfield. Both full-backs dropped very deep to help play around Arsenal’s block (below).

Despite having numbers centrally, United lacked the ability to connect and play through Arsenal’s midfield. Their 27th-minute opener came from a one-off counter-attack created by Eriksen and finished by Rashford. 

Throughout the second half, United’s threat came primarily from counter-attacks after regaining possession inside their own half. They focused most on their left side, and looked to get in behind Arsenal right-back Ben White when he ventured forward. 

Anthony Martial drifted over and linked well with Rashford’s runs, with Bruno Fernandes central and Antony coming in off the right as further support (below).

United opted for more direct balls with substitutes Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans replacing starting centre-backs Lisandro Martínez and Victor Lindelöf in the second half. Neither of the centre-backs now stepped into midfield off the ball, as they had in the first half. Rasmus Højlund was introduced as the central forward in the 67th minute, to make the most of these direct balls. But United failed to grab a crucial second goal on the break, and their ever-deepening block failed to withstand the Arsenal pressure in added time.

Zinchenko’s influence 

Within Arsenal’s starting 4-3-3 shape, Oleksandr Zinchenko inverted to create a double pivot with Declan Rice. The Ukrainian sometimes operated off the right side of this midfield pairing, despite starting at left-back – but United rarely exploited this distance from his original position in transition. The double pivot allowed Martin Ødegaard and Kai Havertz to position themselves higher. There, they could connect with Arsenal’s wingers, with Eddie Nketiah dropping to link play around United’s 4-2-3-1 block (below).

Marcus Rashford repeatedly worked back to support Diogo Dalot defensively, creating a 2v1 against Bukayo Saka. This limited Saka’s threat for most of the first half. On the Arsenal left, Antony was less consistent with his recovery runs – another consequence of Zinchenko’s narrowed positioning during the hosts' attacking play. This allowed Gabriel Martinelli to repeatedly isolate Aaron Wan-Bissaka 1v1 in the wide spaces, with Arsenal’s left-winger often dribbling deep into the final third (below).

The visitors punished Arsenal by taking advantage of a rare moment when Rice and Zinchenko weren’t centrally positioned to protect against the counter-attack. Rashford broke through to latch on to Eriksen’s incisive central pass, but Arsenal responded immediately. The first time in the match that Zinchenko overlapped (below), Martinelli and Nketiah pulled United’s centre-backs across and combined to find Ødegaard for the equaliser. Zinchenko continued to play inside as a double pivot with Rice through the second half, regularly receiving on the right side of the two.

Arsenal’s number eights

Arsenal had much more of the ball in the second half, with United defending deeper as a result. Rice made more forward runs, with Nketiah often followed by one of United’s central defenders when he dropped. This heavily influenced the visitors’ back line, causing various issues in the central areas. Arsenal’s double pivot allowed Ødegaard and Havertz to make runs beyond, exploiting the gap left by the United centre-back dragged out by Nketiah (below).

Maguire replaced Martínez at centre-back on 67 minutes, after which Nketiah’s movement and Arsenal’s midfield runs continued to disrupt the visitors’ back line. United’s double pivot, Casemiro and Eriksen, dropped much deeper to defend and track these forward runs, limiting Arsenal’s progress in the inside channels. United’s attackers were also forced to defend deeper (below), reducing their ability to counter-attack as often or with as many numbers.

Takehiro Tomiyasu was brought on for Zinchenko after 76 minutes, but didn’t invert as much. At the same time, Jesus replaced Nketiah but didn’t replicate the latter’s dropping movement from central forward. Arsenal’s number eights no longer operated as high, but they didn't need to as Rice and Jesus won the game at the death.

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