James OlleyJan 25, 2026, 03:08 PM ETCloseJames Olley is a senior soccer writer for ESPN.com. Read his archive here and follow him on Twitter: @JamesOlley.Follow on X
The Gunners ended the weekend just four points clear of Manchester City and Aston Villa after substitute Matheus Cunha’s stunning 87th-minute strike gave United their first league win at Arsenal since 2017.
Lisandro Martinez’s 29th-minute own goal gave Arsenal a first-half lead, but a mistake from Martín Zubimendi gifted Bryan Mbeumo the chance to level eight minutes later.
Patrick Dorgu’s superb 50th-minute volley put United ahead and after Mikel Merino scrambled in an 84th-minute equaliser, Cunha struck late to consign Arsenal to their third consecutive league game without a win.
“We were absolutely brilliant in Milan [beating Inter 3-1 on Tuesday], and today we weren’t that good. I don’t know if it was mental, because of how much they played [in Italy], 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.”
Arsenal were booed off by some Arsenal fans at full-time despite Sunday’s loss being the first they have suffered since May of 2025 as they top the Premier League and Champions League tables.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Arteta when that reaction was put to him. “We have to do more, so maybe that’s not enough. We have to do more, there’s nothing else. We have to do our very best.
“When you do that, you can rest in peace. Today we really certainly tried to do our very best, but we weren’t efficient enough against a team that is very well organised, and we got punished because of our own mistakes as well.
CloseJames Olley is a senior soccer writer for ESPN.com. Read his archive here and follow him on Twitter: @JamesOlley.Follow on X