Pain in the Arsenal
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Manchester United 3-1 Arsenal: Player ratings as Gunners taste first defeat

By James Cormack

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 04: Ben White and Aaron Ramsdale of Arsenal looks dejected after Marcus Rashford of Manchester United (not pictured) scores their sides third goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Arsenal FC at Old Trafford on September 04, 2022 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 04: Ben White and Aaron Ramsdale of Arsenal looks dejected after Marcus Rashford of Manchester United (not pictured) scores their sides third goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Arsenal FC at Old Trafford on September 04, 2022 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season as they were beaten 3-1 by Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

The Gunners thought they’d taken an early lead through Gabriel Martinelli, but the Brazilian’s opener was ruled out for the softest of fouls in the build-up following VAR intervention.

United then went ahead through debutant Antony before half-time, but Arsenal were the superior outfit and their dominance was eventually rewarded on the hour as Bukayo Saka tapped home. The hosts were a threat in transition, though, and the swiftest of breaks was rounded off by Marcus Rashford to restore United’s lead.

A triple-substitution from Mikel Arteta completely compromised the Gunners and they quickly fell two goals behind after Christian Eriksen broke free before squaring to Rashford who tapped home his second.

The Gunners probed until the last but they were unable to breach David De Gea’s goal again as the contest ended 3-1 in United’s favour.

Here are the Arsenal player ratings from Sunday’s defeat at Old Trafford

Goalkeeper & Defenders

Gabriel struggled in a high defensive line. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Gabriel struggled in a high defensive line. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /

Aaron Ramsdale (GK) – 6.5/10 – Barring one error (which he swiftly atoned for with a big save) Ramsdale was excellent in the build-up and his distribution out to the full-backs was particularly excellent. He wasn’t great one-vs-one, however.

Ben White (RB) – 6.5/10 – Did okay and certainly wasn’t the reason why Arsenal conceded three times. Jadon Sancho was pretty quiet down United’s left and White did a fine job of supporting Saka going forward.

William Saliba (CB) – 5.5/10 – It wasn’t great from Saliba for United’s opening two goals. His passivity forced Zinchenko to slide across for the opener and Rashford ran off him for United’s second.

Gabriel (CB) – 5/10 – Gabriel’s unsuccessful gamble was a contributing factor to United taking the lead and he struggled to defend in a high line throughout. The hosts made him pay.

Oleksandr Zinchenko (LB) – 7/10 – His technical security was off the charts. United couldn’t get near him and his positioning in the left half-space was particularly problematic for the hosts.

Continued on the next slide…