By AFP
Arsenal kept Manchester United’s expensively assembled forward line at bay and scored again from a set piece to win 1-0 at Old Trafford in the marquee match in the opening round of English football’s Premier League.
Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori nodded in from close range in the 13th minute on Sunday after United back-up goalkeeper Altay Bayındır flapped at the ball from a corner whipped in by Declan Rice.
After finishing second for the past three seasons, the pressure is on Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta to deliver the club’s first league title since 2003-04.
The Spaniard was left to depend on his reliable defence and goalkeeper David Raya to secure a huge three points as the visitors never fully got going as an attacking force.
United, meanwhile, fell to a loss that is all too familiar under Ruben Amorim following a woeful 15th-place finish last season by the struggling giants of English football.
United spent around 200 million pounds ($270m) on revamping their attack in the preseason, with Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha starting the match and Benjamin Sesko coming off the bench in the second half.
Cunha and Mbeumo unsettled Arsenal’s normally unflappable centre-back pairing of Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba early on.
However, United’s good work was undone by a glaring error from Bayindir, who was deputising for Andre Onana.
Patrick Dorgu came closest to a United reply before half-time with a powerful effort from distance that came back off the post.
Patrick Dorgu reacts after missing a chance
Manchester United’s Patrick Dorgu reacts after hitting the woodwork [Peter Powell/Reuters]
Mbeumo and Cunha saw tame efforts easily saved by Raya, while the Spaniard did brilliantly to divert another Cunha shot across the face of goal.
Advertisement
Arsenal had held interest in Sesko for well over a year before instead pursuing a move for Viktor Gyokeres as the solution to their need for a number nine. The Swede had a quiet Premier League debut and was replaced before the hour mark by Kai Havertz.
