Gary Neville shocked Mikel Arteta left Arsenal star on bench in Man Utd defeat
Gary Neville has questioned Mikel Arteta’s decision to leave Gabriel Martinelli on the substitutes bench for Arsenal’s 3-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United.
Arsenal saw their advantage at the top reduced to just four points as United picked up their second successive win under interim boss Michael Carrick, a week on from a stunning derby victory over Manchester City.
The Premier League leaders had looked to have salvaged a point as Mikel Merino scrambled the ball home from close range with six minutes remaining of normal time at the Emirates.
It came after a spirited fightback from United, in which Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu had scored either side of the break following an earlier own goal from Lisandro Martinez.
But the Red Devils dug deep again and were rewarded for their efforts as second-half substitute Matheus Cunha beat David Raya with a superb 25-yard strike in the 87th minute.
The result – Arsenal’s first home defeat of the campaign – propelled United up to fourth place in the table, one point better off than Chelsea, who won at Crystal Palace earlier in the day.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners will be desperate to get their title charge back on track they return to Premier League action away to Leeds in a week’s time.
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‘They had a warning sign against Liverpool and Liverpool didn’t quite have enough up front, Liverpool had lots of players missing in that game and couldn’t go and hurt them,’ ex-United and England right-back Gary Neville said of Arsenal on his Sky Sports podcast.
‘Manchester United have got Bryan Mbeumo, they’ve got Amad Diallo, they’ve got Bruno Fernandes, they’ve got Mason Mount, they’ve got Benjamin Sesko, they’ve got Patrick Dorgu.
‘They’ve got players that are really capable of hurting you and they’ve been hurt tonight, Arsenal.’
Metro at the Match: Arsenal 2-3 Manchester United
Metro’s Tom Olver breaks down the winners and losers from Arsenal's 3-2 defeat to Manchester United at the Emirates.
Gabriel Jesus stutters in centre-forward audition
Given the nod over Viktor Gyokeres after an impressive brace against Inter Milan in midweek, Gabriel Jesus will no doubt have been itching to nail down his spot as Mikel Arteta's first-choice centre-forward.
But with the Gunners utterly dominant in the early exchanges, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard combined to provide the main threat from out wide - with the Brazilian a largely peripheral figure through the middle, in stark contrast with Bryan Mbeumo at the other end of the pitch.
It was more of the same from Jesus as the second half wore on and Mikel Arteta had seen enough by the 58th minute, with his side stumbling in search of an equaliser after a spirited fightback from the visitors.
A huge opportunity missed for the former Manchester City attacker as United threw a cat amongst the pigeons in this year's title race. It leaves Arteta with a tough call to make up front ahead of Arsenal's return to top-flight action at Leeds next weekend.
A rare moment to forget for Martin Zubimendi
Martin Zubimendi helped gift United a route back into the game with a horrible lapse in concentration at a crucial stage in the contest before half-time.
Arsenal's usually metronomic summer signing has hardly put a foot wrong since joining from Real Sociedad and the Spaniard could scarcely believe what he had done as Mbeumo latched onto his misplaced pass before calmly rounding David Raya and stroking the ball home.
An unwanted collector's item for Zubimendi and a moment he will not want to repeat any time soon.
Even ignoring his blunder, there was a distinct lack of creativity and urgency from Zubimendi when the hosts badly needed someone to stand up and take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Arsenal match ratings: Raya 7, Timber 7, Saliba 5, Gabriel 5, Hincapie 6, Zubimendi 4, Rice 7, Odegaard 6, Saka 6, Trossard 6, Jesus 4. Subs: White 4, Merino 7, Eze 5, Madueke 5, Gyokeres 4.
A mixed day for Martinez
Martinez has endured surely his toughest period yet as a United player and things went bad to worse for the diminutive centre-back on the half-hour mark at the Emirates.
After being on the end of some scathing criticism from Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, the Argentine will have been desperate to build on his encouraging display against Manchester City.
But another of United's Class of '92 was left less than impressed as Martinez - put under pressure from Jurrien Timber - directed the ball into his own net to open the scoring for Arsenal. 'He should deal with it,' said Gary Neville on Sky Sports.
Martinez did, though, show great resilience to keep his chin up to help keep the likes of Saka, Trossard and Jesus quiet alongside a near-faultless Harry Maguire at the heart of Michael Carrick's defence.
Bryan Mbeumo the big-game competitor
Bryan Mbeumo further showed himself to be perhaps United's most shrewd piece of summer transfer business with just the latest in a long line of eye-catching performances for the club.
He more than deserved his first-half goal, helping force a rare misplaced pass from Zubimendi with some relentless pressing through the middle. The subsequent finish had all the coolness and confidence of a player well and truly at the peak of his powers.
It's no coincidence that United's resurgence under Michael Carrick has coincided with Mbeumo's welcome return from the Africa Cup of Nations.
The £71million spent on Mbeumo will prove to be a steal if the Cameroon international continues in the same vein over the coming weeks and months, adding to his already impressive scoring tally.
Carrick won't mind Mbeumo's animated reaction to being substituted for Matheus Cunha in the 68th minute. It's exactly that kind of character and personality that the club have badly lacked for so long in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Patrick Dorgu comes of age
Michael Carrick was full of praise for Patrick Dorgu's 'immense' performance after a dream derby day for United - and the Dane picked up where he left off this weekend.
It's fair to say Dorgu has had an up-down start to his United career since becoming the first signing of Ruben Amorim's turbulent reign. But his talent has always been undoubted - the difference is he's is now beginning to showcase that ability on a far more consistent basis.
His 50th-minute wonder strike - which Neville branded 'the goal of a lifetime' - was the standout moment of quality... that's until Cunha provided some serious competition with his stunning effort to win it in the closing stages.
Such a shame that a suspected hamstring injury cut short Dorgu's showing with ten minutes remaining in the capital. Carrick will be praying it's not as bad as it first appeared so the youngster is able to make a speedy return to the fold.
Man Utd player ratings: Lammens 7, Dalot 6, Maguire 8, Martinez 6, Shaw 6, Casemiro 6, Mainoo 6, Amad 5, Fernandes 7, Dorgu 8, Mbeumo 8. Subs: Cunha 8, Sesko 5, Mazraoui 5.
Arteta used all of his substitutions as the hosts searched for a winner – and then an equaliser – in the second half, with Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres, Ben White and Merino all sent on in north London.
But Neville believes Arteta may have given United’s tiring defenders a let-off by leaving Martinelli’s pace and power on the bench for the entirety of the contest.
‘He [Arteta] threw the kitchen sink at it. Well, threw the kitchen sink at it in a way which was… he half threw the kitchen sink at it,’ Neville added.
‘Mikel Merino came on, Ben White came on. Was Martinelli a sub by the way or am I missing something?! He was, wasn’t he? He was!
‘So I was thinking Martinelli, Madueke, Eze and Gyokeres as the front four. Probably leave Zubimendi on with Rice and just change the front four.
‘That’s taking Bukayo Saka off… anyway, I just thought he would get those three or four really and put the spontaneity and the instinctive play out on the pitch.
‘But he still went a little bit sort of… he went for it but he didn’t really go for it if you know what I mean.’
On Arteta’s second-half changes, Neville went on: ‘I don’t think the substitutions helped Arsenal that much.
‘It didn’t add impetus to the game like I thought it would.’
Neville reckons Arsenal’s players will be hurting after dropping points in such a disappointing manner against a team that had won just three matches on the road up until that point.
‘They didn’t do enough. Other than set-pieces and those corners, Arsenal were really, really struggling in open play to break Manchester United down,’ he continued.
‘I think it’ll take a little bit to pick themselves up tonight.’
Neville felt Martin Zubimendi’s mistake for Mbeumo’s first-half equaliser ‘summed up’ the ‘level of anxiety’ that was apparent in Arsenal’s squad.
‘I can understand the anxiety a little bit from the supporters in certain parts of games where it’s not going well,’ he explained.
‘But I wouldn’t expect that from Arsenal, being four points clear with the chance to go seven points clear, 1-0 up in the game.
‘They didn’t fall apart, let’s be clear, but they really did cause their own issues.
‘The goal sums it up. The pass from William Saliba into Martin Zubimendi, Zubimendi, being one of the best controlling, composed players in Europe in that position, making a mistake like that.
‘I wouldn’t expect that level of anxiety to come into a team in January. I’d expect it to come maybe in March when you’ve got say 10-12 games to go and people like us are really ramping the pressure up and saying it’s Arsenal’s to lose and things like that.
‘I wouldn’t have expected it come when they’re 1-0 up against Manchester United, who haven’t created much in the game up to that point, in January, I really wouldn’t.’
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