Arsenal 2 Man Utd 3 – Did composure cost Arteta’s side? How good was Dorgu? What does this mean for Carrick?
Two sensational finishes from Patrick Dorgu and Matheus Cunha gave Manchester United a shock 3-2 win against Arsenal in an incredible game at the Emirates.
Mikel Arteta’s side went into the weekend seven points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League, but they now lead by just four after defeat to United and City beating Wolves on Saturday.
Cunha scored from distance after Mikel Merino had equalised for Arsenal late on. This followed Dorgu’s strike that had put United ahead after Bryan Mbeumo had equalised following an error from Martin Zubimendi. Arsenal felt they could have had a penalty when the ball struck a diving Harry Maguire on the hand, but nothing was given. Arsenal had initially gone in front through a Lisandro Martinez own goal.
United put in another impressive performance under interim head coach Michael Carrick, who followed up last week’s derby win over City.
Art de Roche, Mark Critchley and Conor O’Neill break down the action from the Emirates.
Has a lack of composure cost Arsenal?
That may have been the hardest sucker punch Arsenal have taken in recent seasons.
Merino’s equaliser brought belief back into the Emirates, only for it to be dashed within minutes.
The result means Arsenal are now on a run of three Premier League matches without a win. While they will hope this year is different, that has been enough to derail their title ambitions in past seasons.
In the 2022-23 campaign, it was a run of three draws and a loss in April that halted their momentum. In 2023-24, festive defeats by West Ham United and Fulham gave them a mountain to climb.
Arteta will be thankful that his side still have a four-point advantage at the top of the league, but that isn’t much when there are 15 games left to play.
(Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Last weekend, he cited a lack of composure (in possession rather than in front of goal) for their inability to pry open Nottingham Forest, and he would have left this match with similar feelings. As was the case against Liverpool, Arsenal were the better team for the opening 20-30 minutes, but that changed once they were ahead.
Blind passes and loose touches encouraged Manchester United to get back into the game, and the visitors took advantage.
Half-time seemed to come at a good time for Arsenal, but they could not rediscover their rhythm and were punished for it.
With a trip to in-form Leeds United next in the league, this could prove to be a decisive few weeks in Arsenal’s season. They showed composure in many areas during their 3-1 win over Inter, but it needs to return in their Premier League outings, and fast.
Art de Roche
What does this performance mean for Carrick and United?
We’re not quite at Rio Ferdinand in the BT Sport studio, post-Paris Saint-Germain, “get the contract out” levels just yet, but if the question was already being asked after last weekend’s Manchester derby, momentum will only build behind it now.
If Carrick can mastermind victories over the best two sides in the country on consecutive weekends, doesn’t he deserve to be at least in the reckoning for the permanent gig come the summer?
Some will argue yes. Others would say it is still too early to tell. What’s certain is that Carrick could hardly have put a stronger case for himself forward in these first two games in charge, and it is worth appreciating and celebrating his immediate impact.
He has made simple but sensible changes — putting players in roles that suit them; restoring Kobbie Mainoo to a side that was struggling on the ball in tight spaces; combining a compact, disciplined defensive shape with typical United attacking flair.
The weeks to come will tell us more. Carrick has made no secret that he has had to tweak and adapt his setup given the quality of the opposition United have faced in his first two games.
We might not know exactly what Carrick’s United looks like once they have played opponents they are expected to beat, in the sort of games Ruben Amorim struggled to win during his final days in charge.
But as Cunha’s brilliant late winner flew into the bottom-right corner of Arsenal’s goal, who could blame any United fan for going full Ferdinand and getting carried away? Carrick’s at the wheel. He’s doing his thing. United are back.
Mark Critchley
Dorgu proving priceless for United?
Few would have expected Dorgu to emerge as a key figure when Carrick took charge against City last weekend.
Now, in just two games under Carrick, he has more Premier League goals than across his previous 32 appearances combined. He followed up his strike against City with a stunning half-volley from just inside the D to give Manchester United a 2-1 lead in the 50th minute.
As a wing-back in Ruben Amorim’s renowned 3-4-2-1 system, Dorgu might have expected to be a fall guy with United reverting to a 4-2-3-1 under Carrick. Instead, Carrick has deployed him as a left midfielder, ahead of the more attacking Cunha.
That decision appears tailored to the calibre of opposition faced in the past eight days, with Dorgu’s defensive qualities offering additional security down United’s left flank. He has delivered, robust in the challenge and diligent in his positioning, with his player dashboard below showing he recorded the most defensive actions in the match.
But it has been his attacking qualities that have come to the fore in this more advanced role. In a game where United spent long spells camped in their own half, Dorgu’s carries helped drive them out of pressure. In the build-up to the goal, his link-up with Bruno Fernandes was sharp, with the pair exchanging a series of one-twos.
When the ball sat up invitingly, Dorgu unleashed a fierce effort that crashed off the underside of the bar and in. It was just reward for another positive display under the interim coach.
Conor O’Neill
A very un-Arsenal goal?
Arsenal’s more direct approach for their opener was a welcome change midway through the first half, particularly from Piero Hincapie.
Minutes before Arsenal took the lead, Declan Rice found the left-back in a decent pocket of space, but he decided to pass backwards instead of continuing to play forward. That move ended with a predictable pass to Bukayo Saka being cut out by Luke Shaw, and the end of another Arsenal attack.
The next time Hincapie received the ball, he had the urgency to put the ball into the box. His cross may have been incomplete, but that is what allowed Saka and Martin Odegaard to create the opening for the goal.
It may not have been a traditional Arsenal goal, but maybe they need more of that chaos in their attacking play.
Not so much when they are building up in their own half, though, as Martin Zubimendi found out for the second time this season, his error leading to Mbeumo being allowed through to finish.
Art de Roche
Is Mbeumo a big-game player?
That’s now a half-century of Premier League goals for Mbeumo, eight of those coming in a United shirt. It was also another against elite opposition, after scoring at Anfield and last weekend’s Manchester derby. And at Tottenham Hotspur, too, if they still count.
Mbeumo benefited greatly from Zubimendi’s careless square pass to send him clean through, but there was still plenty of work to do from that point.
3 – Bryan Mbeumo is the first @ManUtd player to score against Arsenal, Man City & Liverpool in a Premier League season since Marcus Rashford in 2022-23, and first to do so in his debut campaign at the club since Robin van Persie in 2012-13. Primetime. pic.twitter.com/5PdFrzWWe3
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 25, 2026
The 26-year-old’s touch on the bobbling ball had to be clean, and his decision to shift it onto his weaker right foot was a risky one, but that fooled David Raya, allowing Mbeumo to round the Arsenal goalkeeper for a clearer sight of goal.
(Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Mbeumo does not get every moment like that right, and was not always hitting his usual high standards before departing for the Africa Cup of Nations, but it’s been a while since United have had a player who feels as dependable as he is in those moments.
The Cameroon international was missed in his six-match absence, but the past eight days have proved that with Mbeumo’s return, United have a big-game player back.
Mark Critchley
What did Arteta say?
Speaking after the game, Arteta said: “Very disappointed obviously, but it’s a moment, especially after losing, and the joy and everything that those players are giving us, and me in particular, to take myself responsibility and be very close to them because it’s exactly what they deserve.
Asked about the feeling of nervousness in the stadium, he said: “We have to understand that we all want to win, and the crowd is trying to be behind the team to make the best decisions and to win the game, and we need to go through that. We know what the players need, and we’re going to be playing much better in the next game … We know that we’re below par, especially in certain individual standards, and when that happens, the margin becomes very close, and today they made those margins bigger because the individual quality that they have made a difference in the game.
On errors giving United encouragement, Arteta said: “You want to be more protective probably doesn’t help to make those mistakes because there were three or four, to be fair, that were very unusual today in the game, and they are part of football. Sometimes you get punished and sometimes not, and today we got punished, and apart from that we have to give credit to the opponent for what they’ve done and in the manner that they managed to win the game.
On Patrick Vieira questioning the mental strength of the team, Arteta said: “We have to show the mental strength that we have on the pitch when it comes to a match day. We were absolutely brilliant in Milan, and today we weren’t that good. I don’t know if it was mental, because of how much they played, but because we were poor, especially technically in certain aspects of the game, against a team that when you make those mistakes, they can punish you big time. That was the difference.
On some boos being heard from the crowd, he said: “That’s part of the demands and expectations that we want to win, and that’s it. Individually, everybody can react in the manner that they need to.”
What did Carrick say?
Speaking at his post-match press conference, Carrick said: “I can’t take any credit for those two finishes. The move for Pat (Dorgu) was a really good move. But to finish it like the way he did was some finish. You get them where it kind of takes your breath away, a little bit, catches you out.
“Matheus came on, had a big impact again, like he did last week. I just fancied him to come out of his feet, I really fancied him to score. Again, fantastic finish. Kind of epitomises probably what, as a group, we’ve been like this week. Matheus has not started both games, but he’s had a real big impact. Two huge moments and he totally deserves that winning goal for that, how he’s applied himself all week and I’m absolutely delighted for him.”
Asked if it was a statement win, Carrick said: “It’s more about the feeling that gives us, really, as a group. And the players and as a club and certainly the supporters.
“It’s just moving forward to the next game. Get this next week, as I said, it’s been less than two weeks that we’ve been together, so it’s just keep, keep getting good habits, good routines, the boys have been fantastic with that. I don’t think we can look too far ahead. We certainly won’t be anyway. It’s a big week leading up to Fulham and games coming up. Looking too far ahead can come back and bite you. ”
What next for Arsenal?
Wednesday, January 28: Kairat (Home), Champions League, 8pm UK, 3pm ET
What next for United?
Sunday, February 1: Fulham (Home), Premier League, 2pm UK, 9am ET
