It’s another game without a win for Arsenal, who have taken two points from a possible nine in their last three Premier League games.
Matchday 23 was punishing for the Gunners, as if suffering defeat wasn’t painful enough, losing against a rival like Manchester United was.
Mikel Arteta had no reply for Michael Carrick again, losing for the second time against Man United’s temporary boss in his career.
Arsenal were at home and winless in their previous two, so it was a shock result in the title race, but when judging the performance, there can be no argument about the direction of the three points.
Who was Arsenal’s most disappointing player against Man United?
Explain your answer!
Micah Richards says Arsenal were defensively poor against Man United
If there’s one thing about Arsenal this season, it’s that defensive strength is guaranteed if William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes are on the pitch.
Against United, that stance was contested, as Saliba had a testing game and his partner was not playing to the same tune.
It’s something that Micah Richards commented on when analysing the fixture on The Rest Is Football podcast.
Arsenal had attacking problems against Man United, but to Richards, that was far from the only issue.
“I think we talk about Arsenal not scoring, but defensively, they were poor today,” the pundit said.
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“I’m not talking about Zubimendi giving it back to Saliba, Zubimendi back to Raya. I’m talking about how many times United players could get behind their midfield line, and the centre-half did not push up and engage.
“So many times, someone behind Rice or Zubimendi, normally in that area of the pitch, it’s one of the strongest parts of their game, not letting people through.”
Alongside Richards on the podcast was Alan Shearer, who shared his thoughts that the chances Arsenal gave United after going ahead were ‘unbelievable’.
“When they went 1-0 up, the chances they gave up, it was unbelievable, three in five minutes or something that we’re not used to seeing from that Arsenal back four.”
Gary Neville questioned Arsenal’s game management in that exact moment, as in a rare instance, the Gunners’ defence looked frail.
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The Emirates was stunned when United visited, and rightly so, as fans saw many things that hadn’t been traceable all season.
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Focusing on how Arsenal acted after going ahead, the Gunners failed to win a game after taking the lead for the first time in the 2025/26 campaign.
Before United, Arteta’s side were 24 wins from 24 when scoring first, but Carrick’s side broke the tradition.
There were many points to take from the defeat, just none to add to the Premier League table, giving Arteta a lot of work to do ahead of the next league clash against Leeds United.
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