Arsenal 2-0 Man United: Gunners score TWICE from second-half corners to hand Ruben Amorim his first defeat as Red Devils boss

Since his arrival in Manchester last month, new Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has been greeted with the kind of uncritical passion usually reserved for prophets and demagogues.

It’s fair to say that Amorim made a good first impression. Television interviews have gone so well that bluebirds are fluttering overhead and spewing heart emojis. It’s amazing what a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town can do for a boss.

In mitigation, it is clear from even a cursory acquaintance with Amorim that he is a person of considerable charisma and charm, and that he is a warmer, more sympathetic figure than the austere personality of Erik ten Hag.

Amorim is an easy man to love. That much is true. He also has the sense to know that the streamers hanging around his neck are normal and premature at the same time. “People always believe the next guy is the right one,” he told the BBC.

Wins against Bodo/Glimt and Everton have polished his start, although no-one would argue either side was the most challenging opponent. Once again Amorim had the good sense to preach caution. “There will be a storm,” he said.

And then came the visit to the Emirates to face Arsenal. Towards the end of the second half, Arsenal were on their way to a comfortable 2–0 win and it started to rain heavily. It wasn’t quite the storm Amorim had predicted, but at least it was the first hint of sunshine.

Charisma and charm can only get you so far, but as Amorim knows, they won’t get a team with United’s glaring problems beyond a talented side like Arsenal, who have overcome a dip due to an injury to Martin Odegaard and races back to the title. racing again.

Mikel Arteta’s side are now just seven points behind leaders Liverpool, who could only draw against Newcastle in the North East. Arsenal weren’t at their best on Wednesday evening, but they didn’t need to be. United have improved since Ten Hag’s time, but there is still a lot further to go before they can think about titles again.

They did well for 45 minutes but, like many of Arsenal’s opponents before them, they could not cope with the bombardment of deadly, accurate corners from Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka. Arsenal scored twice from them. United’s defense looked increasingly shabby.

Towards the end of the match, in which United finished in 11th place, while Arsenal cruised to victory and United were well beaten, Amorim sat on the bench, with his head in his hands, as he reflected on his first defeat in the Premier League. He already knew the magnitude of the task ahead of him to resurrect the giant of the English game, but this was first-hand evidence.

It was Arsenal’s 500th game at The Emirates since their move from Highbury and this season could be their best chance to win the title since that move. Optimism remains fragile and has not been helped by central defender Gabriel’s absence through injury. Jakub Kiwior replaces.

Amorim was without centre-back Lisandro Martinez due to his suspension, but he did put Noussair Mazraoui in his back three, while Mazraoui remained at the center of a debate over his refusal to wear a rainbow-themed warm-up jacket this weekend.

It is thought that Mazraoui, a Muslim, cited religious beliefs as a reason for his reluctance to wear the jacket as a sign of support for the LGBTQ+ community, and the club appears to have decided that the gesture should be a matter of individual choice.

It’s also worth remembering that the FA lost any moral authority they may have once had on the issue when they abandoned plans for skipper Harry Kane to wear a rainbow armband at the 2022 World Cup because they feared Kane would receive a yellow card if he did so. Then they should have given up the gesture policy.

Both teams started well, but Arsenal were soon criticized for not taking an early chance to take the lead. Rice turned in a corner from United’s right and it reached Thomas Partey three yards out. Partey only needed to make clean contact to score, but his header bounced off his shoulder and flopped wide.

However, much of the rest of the half was tied to caution. The match became like a game of chess, cerebral and tactical, with both teams looking for weakness or loss of concentration. Nobody came.

Gabriel Martinelli fired a shot wide from six yards out after another Saka corner caused problems in the United field. But mostly, the abundant patience of both sides became somewhat soporific, except when the silence was broken by howls of impatience from the home fans.

That lasted until three minutes before half-time when United almost scored an opening goal in slightly bizarre circumstances. Mason Mount hit a shot from 25 yards out that went so far wide that the Arsenal defense ignored it.

Harry Maguire retrieved it before he touched the ball and pulled it back into the path of Diogo Dalot and Dalot’s cross shot beat David Raya but whistled just wide of Arsenal’s far post.

The second half started with a burst of excitement as Martinelli broke free down the left and raced towards the retreating United defense before his shot deflected off a defender and bounced tamely into the hands of Andre Onana.

The pace improved. Rice shot just wide shortly afterwards and Arsenal took the lead eight minutes into the half. Rice curled another beautiful, tricky, challenging corner towards the near post and Jurrien Timber rose to meet him in the crowd and glanced his header past Onana from close range.

Amorim immediately sat on the bench and began giving instructions to Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee as he prepared to send them through. Rashford bent down to listen to his instructions and nodded gravely. Amorim forwarded them both and also introduced Leny Yoro.

Zirkzee’s first contribution was to inadvertently set up another Rice corner at the near post. It headed towards the far corner until Manuel Ugarte turned his body and headed the ball off the line.

However, Amorim’s changes began to make a difference in other ways as well. United’s play improved and midway through the half it took a brilliant flying one-handed save from Raya to deny Matthijs de Ligt as his header from Bruno Fernandes’ free-kick found the top corner.

But eighteen minutes before the end, Arsenal doubled their lead. Once again the goal came from a set piece. This time it was created by the wand of a left foot from Saka. He curled a corner to the back post, where it was headed across goal by Partey and deflected off William Saliba’s thigh and over the line.

United looked like they were on the verge of crumbling. Arsenal went wild. Odegaard played in Kai Havertz who should have scored, but his shot was too close to Onana. Substitute Mikel Merino headed just wide from a corner.

United tried to claw their way back into the game, but it was beyond them.