LONDON, England
Arsenal worked their set-piece magic to beat Manchester United 2-0 on Wednesday, ending Ruben Amorim's unbeaten start to life in the Old Trafford hotseat and closing the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool.
United frustrated the home
side and kept the crowd quiet at the Emirates in a cagey first half but Jurrien
Timber broke the deadlock from a corner after the break and William Saliba
repeated the feat.
The win leaves Arsenal in
third place in the Premier League, behind Chelsea on goal difference and seven
points adrift of leaders Liverpool, who were held to a 3-3 draw at Newcastle.
Amorim made six changes from
the team that brushed Everton aside 4-0 at the weekend, dropping in-form Amad
Diallo and Marcus Rashford from his starting line-up.
Gabriel was a significant
absence from Arsenal's defence, joining Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori on the
injury list.
Amorim travelled to London
with two wins and a draw from three matches in all competitions, keenly aware
that Arsenal would be his biggest test yet.
The Gunners hogged possession
in the opening moments and had the ball in the net in the fourth minute through
Gabriel Martinelli, only for it to be ruled out for offside.
Mikel Arteta's men should have
been ahead just minutes later when Thomas Partey skewed his header wide from a
corner.
Martinelli flashed just wide
from another corner midway through the first half as Arsenal continued to look
dangerous from set-pieces.
United were content to bide
their time when they had the ball but they looked blunt in attack.
The visitors could have gone
in ahead at halftime had Diogo Dalot not steered just wide with a right-footed
shot in the 43rd minute.
The two teams, both in
goalscoring form, produced a combined five shots in the opening 45 minutes,
with none on target.
The game picked up tempo at
the start of the second half, with Diallo replacing Tyrell Malacia for United.
Feeding off a more vocal
crowd, a re-energised Arsenal put United under pressure, finally breaking the
deadlock when Timber headed his first goal for the club from a Declan Rice
corner.
Amorim reacted quickly,
bringing on forwards Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee and handing French teenage
defender Leny Yoro his United debut.
Diallo won a free-kick after
fine work on the right in the 66th minute and Arsenal were grateful to
goalkeeper David Raya, who pushed away a powerful Matthijs de Ligt header from
Bruno Fernandes's free-kick.
Arsenal doubled their lead
from a Bukayo Saka corner in the 73rd minute when Partey's shot hit Saliba and
beat Andre Onana.
Arsenal have scored more goals
from corners – 21 – than any other side in the Premier League since the start
of last season.
Onana got down well to save a
Kai Havertz shot as Arsenal threatened to cut loose.
United just about managed to
keep them out but Amorim will know that he has a big job on his hands.
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