The Gunners dominated the match even though they fell behind, unfortunately the coach’s decision made United even more out of reach
Gary Neville blamed Mikel Arteta’s “weird” decision for Arsenal’s defeat at the hands of Manchester United.
The English Premier League leaders trailed 1-0 thanks to Antony’s debut goal, but managed to neutralize the situation through the contribution of Bukayo Saka.
Arsenal also opted to attack more but their rising defensive line was punished by Marcus Rashford, who restored United’s lead in the 66th minute.
At that point, Arteta made a bet, bringing in Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, and new player Fabio Vieira, replacing Martin Odegaard, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Sambi Lokonga.
The decision proved to be the master’s weapon, as two minutes later Rashford doubled the lead The Red Devils again through a counterattack.
Manchester United legend Neville was impressed by Arsenal’s performance, which he says has cemented his status as the top four seed, but feels Arteta’s premature switch has actually benefited Man United.
“They are [Arsenal] fantastic for 70 minutes but a bit immature in the last 20 minutes,” said the former Red Devils captain, quoted by Metro.
“I thought their three substitutions were strange, because I thought they could have conceded on the counter-attack, and it actually happened.”
“I don’t think they should have done it, the game still has 20 minutes and they played really well.”
“They created some chances, Manchester United’s goal actually happened when the flow of the game was held by Arsenal.”
“[Namun] suddenly the game was easier for Manchester United than Arsenal because of that substitution.”
GettyNeville added: “It might be strange to say this when they just lost 3-1, but I’m more confident in Arsenal’s chances of finishing in the top four after [melihat performa mereka] today compared to the previous four or five games.”
“They’re really good and they’re going to get their strategy right more often than not.”
