Arsenal 2 Manchester United 0

Second-half goals by Jurrien Timber and William Saliba condemned new head coach Ruben Amorim to a first defeat, on a wet, inhospitable night in the capital.

The Gunners' threat from corners is well documented and they looked capable of netting from most of them, even without injured chief aerial presence Gabriel.

It made for an uncomfortable challenge that the Reds were unfortunately unable to pass.

FIRST HALF - DALOT GOES CLOSEST

United did well to quieten the expectant home crowd, particularly after having the ball in our net very early on. Andre Onana's misplaced pass was punished by Gabriel Martinelli but Kai Havertz was clearly offside and it was rightly chalked off.

There was a proper escape when Thomas Partey got his header all wrong from a corner, as the Gunners were a constant threat from set-pieces. However, Matthijs de Ligt defended one well and Onana stood tall to make some important punches and claims. From one fist away by the Cameroon international, in the 25th minute, Oleksandr Zinchenko's shot fell to Martinelli, who fired wastefully wide.

Harry Maguire had to block a Bukayo Saka cross, when the England international tricked his way past Tyrell Malacia, but probably the best effort of the half came from Amorim's Reds. Our first shot of any description, a couple of minutes before the break, was slashed at by Mason Mount and ended up being kept in by Maguire. The defender's centre was only cleared to Diogo Dalot, who whistled his shot past David Raya's far post.

Bookings for Malacia and Manuel Ugarte ended the half on a sour note but it was a solid showing by United.

SECOND HALF - UNDONE BY SET-PIECES

Amad, unlucky to start on he bench after his display at the weekend, was introduced for Malacia but United were soon under intense pressure. A Martinelli shot had the sting taken out of it by Maguire before Onana dived to save and Rice saw an effort from the edge of the box deflect out for a corner. There was a feeling of inevitability when Rice's set-piece evaded Fernandes and Rasmus Hojlund and was glanced in by Timber.

Onana saved from Saka but the offside flag was up anyway before we managed to clear our heads. Dalot's positive run led to a shot that drifted wide yet, in truth, the danger from the Gunners' corners was omnipresent. Substitute Joshua Zirkzee almost scored an own goal from one of them, rescued by Ugarte at the back post. Our brightest moment came when Amad was crudely brought down by Zinchenko and Fernandes's free-kick was headed goalwards by De Ligt. Raya flung himself to his left to pull off a magnificent save.

Six minutes later, more huge damage was done when Saka's corner from the right was met by Partey and went in off Saliba's back. The goal survived a VAR check for offside and this was destined to be another unhappy visit to the Emirates Stadium.

Only Onana's reflexes denied Havertz an instant third at his near post and yet another chance from a corner was spurned when Mikel Merino nodded off target. Leny Yoro, on for his competitive Reds debut, had to make an important clearance to a Saka centre as the north Londoners threatened to run away with it.

A clever free-kick by Fernandes led to Antony forcing another save out of Raya but another huge scare from a corner at the other end, when Onana just about did enough to get it away from danger, was more instructive about a disappointing defeat.

It's Nottingham Forest up next, on Saturday, in a teatime kick-off.

MATCH DETAILS

Arsenal: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Zinchenko (Merino 71); Partey, Odegaard (c) (Jorginho 90), Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli (Trossard 71).

Subs not used: Neto, Heaven, Tierney, Nwaneri, Jesus, Sterling.

Scorers: Timber 54, Saliba 73.

Booked: Zinchenko.

United: Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Maguire (Yoro 59); Dalot, Ugarte, Fernandes (c), Malacia (Amad 46); Garnacho (Rashford 59), Mount (Zirkzee 59); Hojlund (Antony 79).

Subs not used: Bayindir, Kukonki, Casemiro, Eriksen.

Booked: Malacia, Ugarte, Maguire.