United win must be put into context

Following the own goal by Lisandro Martinez, it was flagged that the Premier League leaders had won each of their 24 games, in all competitions this season, when they had opened the scoring. 

However, Bryan Mbeumo soon levelled and the title-chasing Gunners were clearly rocked by the calibre of the Reds' response to going behind in extremely unfortunate circumstances.

Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu's strike for the ages, that thundered in off the underside of the bar, came during the period of a match when Arsenal tend to dominate in terms of the goalscoring.

When Mikel Merino scrambled an equaliser, with six minutes of normal time remaining, the momentum was expected to shift in the hosts' favour.

The task facing United now, in terms of winning the game, was Herculean. Even ignoring the situation, the north Londoners had gone 83 league matches without conceding more than two goals.

Even then, in December 2023, they still beat Luton Town 4-3.

However, Matheus Cunha struck the killer blow with a shot of rare quality from outside the box, to earn successive wins under head coach Michael Carrick.

Sometimes, in all of the emotion and elation, the bigger picture is harder to see.

But let's look at some of the bare facts of our first league win at the Emirates Stadium since 2017.

Mikel Arteta's team have been invincible at home all season, this was their first loss there since being defeated by Bournemouth in May of 2024/25.

In 16 games, they had won 13 and scored 38 times, conceding only seven goals.

The Gunners had not even faced a shot on target in either of their previous two league outings, against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

Make no mistake this was an exceptional result for Carrick's side, particularly coming hot on the heels of a brilliant display and win in the Manchester derby.

Although there is still one game to go, with Everton facing Leeds United tonight (Monday), United will be fourth in the table after 23 matches, having moved above Chelsea and Liverpool.

There may be an eight-point gap to third-placed Aston Villa, who secured an eye-catching 2-0 triumph away to Newcastle United, and it is interesting to see Fulham as high as seventh, only two points adrift of reigning champions Liverpool.

With the Cottagers next up, at Old Trafford on Sunday, all the focus this week at Carrington will be on stretching this winning run and continuing to delight the United faithful.