Final UEFA Decision – UEFA President release statement regarding Arsenal vs Man United ref. Anthony Taylor
Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus scored in stoppage time to lift Arsenal to a memorable 3-1 victory over Manchester United on Sunday.
In a game full of drama, United believed they’d won it when Alejandro Garnacho broke free to score on 88 minutes, but a close VAR offside call denied him his chance. Erik ten Hag insisted it should have stood.
Instead, Arsenal’s £105 million man scored the game-winner, deftly controlling a corner at the back post before smashing a volley off 35-year-old Jonny Evans and past Andre Onana six minutes into additional time.
Evans appealed for a foul on the cross, but Rice’s celebrations into the crowd were a memorable moment in this Premier League rivalry.
As the visitors pressed for an answer, Jesus sealed it, separating and leaving Diogo Dalot and United on the floor. Last season, Eddie Nketiah delivered an injury-time knockout blow to Manchester United. It was a Rice-Jesus one-two this time.
In the first half, Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard responded quickly to Marcus Rashford’s counter-attack goal, scoring 35 seconds after the break.
On the hour mark, Arsenal believed they had a chance to go up when Kai Havertz was brought down in the box and a penalty was granted. However, replays revealed that the German was hunting for contact with Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and the decision was reversed by a VAR check.
That concluded a bad day for Havertz, who fumbled an early chance with the goal at his disposal and then lost the ball away, allowing United to burst away and Rashford to score.
But it was his teammates who would pull off the comeback, and what a comeback it was.
A thrilling finale to a match that gives Arsenal three wins in a row and takes Mikel Arteta’s team up to fifth, just two points behind championship contenders Manchester City.
Manchester United sit in 11th place, six points behind their rivals.
It was a terrible ending for them, but Erik ten Hag, who has yet to pick up a point away from home in the Premier League this season, will spend the international break pondering a six-point return from their first batch of games, which leaves them already playing catch-up on the teams they want to challenge.
