A jubilant Ruben Amorim said he had sensed his Manchester United side would beat Arsenal at the outset of a controversial third round tie at the Emirates. Amorim’s side rode out a storm with 10 men to force penalties, sealing the win through Joshua Zirkzee’s clinical strike, and he claimed the outcome had been clear in his mind as soon as proceedings began.
“The players were really tired but I felt since the first minute that today was our day,” Amorim said. “I also felt a connection with our fans, our staff. It was a very good day for us in that aspect.”
By the end of extra time United were repelling Arsenal’s attacks with a makeshift unit that had been weakened just after the hour when Diogo Dalot was sent off. A majestic performance by their goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, who saved spot kicks from Martin Ødegaard in normal time and Kai Havertz during the shootout, contributed heavily but Amorim detected a collective improvement in his side’s resilience.
“We showed a different spirit, even with 10 men,” he said. “We are improving in that aspect. I think we are understanding more the way we play football. Sometimes you are not playing well, but you can control the game in certain moments. It is clear that we are improving in the way we suffer playing football. It’s not nice, but it’s a good thing for the team.”
While Bruno Fernandes, whose superbly-taken opener was cancelled out by Gabriel Magalhães, was United’s only scorer in open play the plaudits went to an oft-maligned Zirkzee. The Dutchman was barracked upon being substituted in the first half of last month’s home loss against Newcastle but was mobbed by his teammates at the end here and, along with the rarely-seen keeper Bayindir, must have felt entitled to enjoy a day in the sun.
“Your life as a footballer has cycles and moments,” Amorim said. “Sometimes in one week, your life can change.
“Against Tottenham [in last month’s Carabao Cup defeat] everybody was pointing the finger at Altay. I understand that. Today he was our hero also. Joshua, a few weeks ago, had a small problem with our fans. Today, every time he is going on the pitch you feel the support from the fans. He has the last penalty: life is like that. You have to continue humbly to work every day. Your time will come.”
Amorim said United’s players had told him that the penalty missed by Ødegaard, harshly awarded for a perceived foul on Havertz by Harry Maguire, should not have been given but showed no inclination to make more of the incident. United’s official X account pointedly posted “Justice” after full time.
United will enjoy a swift reunion with Ruud van Nistelrooy, who managed them for a month in an interim capacity before Amorim’s arrival in November, after being drawn to face his Leicester team at home in the fourth round.
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For Mikel Arteta the big concern, beyond a second successive home cup defeat in which Arsenal squandered numerous chances, was the knee injury that cut Gabriel Jesus’s involvement short. The striker was carried off on a stretcher in obvious pain and an already threadbare attack seems likely to be weakened further.
“A big worry, that’s my feeling,” he said. “He had to come off on a stretcher with a lot of pain, touching his knee. It’s not looking good. The worrying factor is the feeling he had when he had to come off, the pain he was in.”
Nonetheless opportunities arose regularly for Arsenal after Dalot’s dismissal, Havertz and Declan Rice among those not to capitalise. “Incredible how you don’t win that game,” Arteta said. “The dominance, the superiority in relationship to the opposition, and everything we did to try to win. We didn’t get what we deserved, clearly.
“Are we going to win big trophies? I don’t know. But playing like this, there are very few teams in the world that can play at that level.”
With their FA Cup participation over and their Carabao Cup prospects hanging by the thinnest of threads, plenty rests on Wednesday’s home derby against Spurs in the Premier League. Arteta was asked if their form piled extra pressure on the occasion. “Regardless of whether we won the last two games, it is the excitement,” he said.
