Declan Rice scored his first Arsenal goal to pull off a stunning late win for Arsenal against Manchester United on Sunday.
Marcus Rashford and Martin Ødegaard scored goals within 35 seconds of each other in the first half before VAR came either way in the second, converting a penalty awarded to Arsenal and disallowing Alejandro Garnach’s late goal for offside against the United youngster.
And just when it looked like both sides would have to settle for a share of the spoils, Rice made himself an instant hero for the Gunners with an injury-time strike before Gabriel Jesus made sure of the points in the 101st minute.
Gabriel Magalhães returned to Arsenal’s defense with William Saliba, while United named four new signings – Altay Bayındır, Sergio Reguilón, Jonny Evans and Rasmus Højlund – all on the Emirates bench.
Gabriel Martinelli looked dangerous for Arsenal in the opening minutes and it was he who almost set up what should have been the opening goal when his cross over the head of United defender Diogo Dalot found its way to the feet of Kai Havertz. However, Havertz could only miss the finish and the chance was gone.
And they were made to rue missing out when United opened the scoring at the other end in the 27th minute.
A sloppy pass from Havertz was picked up by Christian Eriksen who fed Marcus Rashford and the striker was given too much time and space on the edge of the box to pick his spot and fire past Aaron Ramsdale to make it 1-0.
But United were in front for just 35 seconds before Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard equalized, curling superbly past André Onana with Martinelli’s assist in the next attack.
The first big chance of the second half fell to United striker Anthony Martial and Ramsdale had to make a good save to deny him and an even better one to stop Rashford on the rebound.
Arsenal were then awarded a penalty in the 59th minute when Havertz intercepted Eddie Nketiah’s pass and Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s combination with Casemiro was deemed to have brought down the German.
However, after watching the incident back on the pitch monitor, referee Anthony Taylor overturned his decision to award the penalty.
Lisandro Martínez then had to go off injured for United, with Harry Maguire brought on to replace him, while Højlund also came off the bench to replace Martial on his United debut.
And Højlund almost got a debut goal when he was picked out in the box after great work from Rashford, but Gabriel did well to snuff out Dan’s backheel attempt.
Bukayo Saka then had a huge chance to win it for Arsenal when he was picked out by Ben White’s low cross in the 81st minute, but the finish went straight at Onan.
In the 85th minute, 35-year-old Jonny Evans also came off the bench to make his second debut for United, replacing Victor Lindelöf.
But it was another United substitute who scored what looked to be the decisive goal when Alejandro Garnacho slipped past Casemiro but the goal was disallowed for partial offside after a VAR review.
And there was to be another massive turnaround in the 97th minute when Rice emerged at the back post to fire home his first Arsenal goal, with Onana only able to get a weak hand on his strike.
Arsenal weren’t done there and in the 101st minute Gabriel Jesus was sent through on goal and kept his head to coolly round Evans before stroking the home side to make it 3-1.
Arsenal player ratings
Aaron Ramsdale (GK) – 5/10 – Not great. Got a hand on Rashford’s opener, and his parry of Anthony Martial’s shot at the start of the second half could’ve led to a Rashford brace.
Ben White (RB) – 5/10 – Suspect for United’s opener as his vulnerabilities one-on-one manifested. Didn’t contribute much in possession.
William Saliba (CB) – 6.5/10 – Positionally very good and made a big block to deny Rashford from scoring his second. A couple of loose touches in possession, though.
Gabriel (CB) – 6.5/10 – Finally back in the starting XI, Gabriel was stout on his return. Enjoyed the physical duel with Rasmus Hojlund late on in the contest.
Oleksandr Zinchenko (LB) – 6/10 – Zinchenko took up an incredibly fluid position in possession, with the Ukrainian occasionally drifting over to the right side of Arsenal’s midfield pivot. Offered a distinct route of progression with the ball.
Declan Rice (DM) – 9/10 – A majestic display, but was particularly brilliant in the opening period. What a moment at the end. Immense.
Kai Havertz (CM) – 3/10 – Absolutely nothing is falling for poor Kai at the moment. Needs to develop a relationship with Martinelli down the left if he’s to have any chance of finding some form.
Martin Odegaard (CM) – 7/10 – The skipper’s goal was just lovely. Constantly probed and sought to disrupt United’s defensive block.
Bukayo Saka (RW) – 4/10 – Just wasn’t at his best and his rather tame effort late on which Andre Onana saved was indicative of his performance. Diogo Dalot was excellent up against him.
Eddie Nketiah (ST) – 5/10 – Started pretty well and looked like he was going to thrive off the back of his England call-up. His performance instead fizzled out pretty quickly, however.
Gabriel Martinelli (LW) – 7.5/10 – Undoubtedly Arsenal’s brightest spark. His duel with Wan-Bissaka was a brilliant watch and a key sub-plot in the game. Wish he could take a good corner.
Substitutes
Gabriel Jesus – 7/10
Fabio Vieira – 7/10
Takehiro Tomiyasu – 6/10
Reiss Nelson – N/A
Jorginho – N/A