The reason Arsenal kept conceding goals to Man United is so obvious it hurts

Arsenal fell to a shock 3-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United on Sunday evening to put a dent in their hopes of winning their first Premier League title in over 20 years.

Despite going ahead through a Lisandro Martinez own goal, the Gunners allowed United to equalise through Bryan Mbeumo soon after. Patrick Dorgu then put the visitors ahead with a thumping effort from the edge of the box before Matheus Cunha sealed the victory with a strike from range after Mikel Merino had pulled Arsenal level for a brief moment.

There was a recurring factor in United's goals, with two of the three coming from outside the penalty area, and that has been an issue for Mikel Arteta's side throughout this season.

The reason Arsenal kept conceding goals to Man United is so obvious it hurts

Strikes by Mbeumo, Dorgu and Cunha now mean Arsenal have conceded 17 goals in the Premier League this season, putting a real end to their hopes of breaking Chelsea's record of least goals conceded in a single campaign.

While the Gunners are still the best defensive team in the league, having let in four less goals than second-placed Manchester City, there is a very concerning recurrence that was a key reason why they fell to United.

Stat maestro Orbinho highlighted on Bluesky that five of the 17 goals Arteta's side have conceded this season (29%) have come from outside the box, with that being the highest proportion of any team in the league.

Both Dorgu's and Cunha's strikes came from range while Dominik Szoboszlai, Richarlison and Eli Junior Kroupi have also netted against the Gunners from a distance already this season.

Some could make the argument that the reason for more goals coming from beyond the penalty area is due to Arsenal's strong and resilient defence making it extremely difficult to score from inside the box, but there is no denying it is still a worrying concern at the back.

Now that United have done it twice in one game, there is a real possibility other teams will look to take advantage of the Gunners' weakness against shots from range so they really need to look at preventing that from now on.

Whether it means a change of game plan or just extra security and caution when the chance opens up for the opposition, Arsenal need to wipe this recurrence out before it does their season ambitions further damage.