Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw in Arsenal's Premier League visit to Old Trafford on Sunday.
The first half was dominated by Arsenal possession, without the visitors creating too many clear-cut chances at the end of it.
That would soon be a source of regret for the Gunners, when Bruno Fernandes stepped up to take a free-kick just outside the penalty area to opening the scoring just moments before the referee called time on the first 45 minutes.
United emerged from the dressing room after the break, with a renewed confidence, going close on a couple of occasions, but it was the visitors who notched the next goal, courtesy of a Declan Rice strike, which proved to be worthy of a point, thanks to the heroics of visiting keeper David Raya.
FIRST HALF – FANTASTIC FERNANDES
The Gunners raced out of the blocks from kick-off – after winning the coin toss and opting to swap ends so the Reds were attacking the Stretford End for the opening 45 minutes.
United handled the pressure well in the first instance, staying compact to reduce Rice, Mikel Merino and Martin Odegaard to creating little more than half-chances.
Diogo Dalot, in particular, stood strong in those early moments, cutting out advances from Odegaard, Jurrien Timber and Ethan Nwaneri on Arsenal's busy right flank.
It was over on the United's own right side that Ruben Amorim's men caused the most danger, using the energy of Alejandro Garnacho to break at the Gunners at pace. One of the Reds' best chances came from this, with the Argentina international running onto a Fernandes pass, but flashing the shot just in front of Raya's goal.
From that point forwards, United found sustained attacks difficult to come by, but remained just as strong at the back. Andre Onana dealt with the renowned threat of Rice's inswinging corners on a couple of occasions, once with a strong punch and, another time, with a catch.
But, on the whole, it was a quiet half for the Reds' keeper in terms of shot stopping, with the defensive line in front of him preventing all but long, speculative efforts reaching the Cameroonian.
There was time for one more big chance for United when Leandro Trossard dragged down Garnacho outside of the box. Fernandes didn't need asking twice.
Stepping up to the dead ball, our captain curled his effort perfectly above the wall and beyond the reach of Raya to break the deadlock, against the odds of the game to that point. A big second half awaited.
SECOND HALF – FRANTIC STUFF
With Leny Yoro having received treatment on the pitch midway through the first half, Amorim decided the safest bet was to withdraw him at the interval for former Arsenal man Ayden Heaven – who signed for United at the beginning of last month – to face his old employers for the first time, in only his second United outing.
That was the only change the Reds head coach opted for at the break. Those remaining on the pitch responded to their assignment well.
Garnacho set the tone with rapid runs from the off down the right wing, an impetus reinforced minutes later by Dalot, this time having his say at the other end of the pitch to lift a pinpoint cross over to a free Mazraoui in the middle. The Morocco defender hit the volley sweetly, and Raya only just got enough on it to turn it behind with a wonderful save.
The crowd was roused by this more confident-looking United side, but the atmosphere erupted when Garnacho, Casemiro and De Ligt all won strong but fair challenges in the middle of the park – it was evident these players were up for the upcoming fight.
Joshua Zirkzee, who had a hand in involving the fans following that exchange, almost created a magical moment of his own shortly after. Feeding off a deflection in the Arsenal box, he attempted a no-look, first-time flick that was as audacious as it was resourceful. Once again, Raya only just prevented it breaching his goal with an instinctive stop.
Those chances would come back to bite as we entered the final 15 minutes. Much the reverse of the first half, United had, without question, the best of the chances, but it was the Gunners who grabbed the goal. Receiving a pass on the edge of the box from Timber, Rice wasted no time in curling it with precision, hitting the inside of Onana's post as he registered the leveller.
The game opened up into an end-to-end affair following the equaliser, with fit-again substitute Gabriel Martinelli provoking a strong Onana save and Rasmus Hojlund thwarted twice in the following minutes by the visitors' defence, by fine tackles from Rice and Gabriel.
A vocal Old Trafford were willing in a winner until the very end and, in truth, the three points could have gone in either direction in stoppage time, with Onana denying a Odegaard effort, and seeing Martinelli smash the rebound off target, although he was offside in any case. Seconds later, Fernandes ran onto Mazraoui's inviting square pass but saw his attempt clawed off the line, at the second attempt, by Raya, with referee Anthony Taylor signalling the goalline technology had not been activated.
So there was to be no separating the two sides on the day – both were forced to settle for a point, following a breathless finale.
MATCH DETAILS
United: Onana; Yoro (Heaven 46), De Ligt, Lindelof; Mazraoui, Casemiro, Fernandes (c), Dalot; Garnacho, Eriksen (Collyer 76); Zirkzee (Hojlund 76).
Unused subs: Harrison, Mee, Amass, J.Fletcher, Moorhouse, Obi.
Goal: Fernandes 45+2.
Arsenal: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori (Lewis-Skelly 58); Odegaard, Partey (Tierney 76), Rice; Nwaneri (Martinelli 58), Merino, Trossard.
Unused subs: Neto, Kiwior, White, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Sterling.
Booked: Trossard.
Goal: Rice 74.