Man United went back to winning ways in the Premier League by defeating Arsenal 3-2 at Old Trafford on Thursday.
The Red Devils played a very open game throughout. But a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo and one goal from Bruno Fernandes were enough to seal a vital win in Michael Carrick’s final game as caretaker manager.
United’s starting formation
Carrick made a few changes from the side that drew against Chelsea, most importantly bringing back Ronaldo as his starting striker. Diogo Dalot replaced the injured Aaron Wan-Bissaka, while Harry Maguire also came into the team for Eric Bailly.
What was most surprising was that Marcus Rashford played as a right-winger, with Jadon Sancho playing on the left. This was despite Sancho impressing on the right in recent games, as Marcus himself looked shaky moving down the right wing.
After conceding a bizarre opening goal, United decided to pour more bodies forward. Fred played a more attack-minded role, often getting into the box. He spotted Fernandes for his equalizer just before the half-time mark.
An impressive counter-attack allowed Rashford to tee up Ronaldo for his first goal and make it 2-1 early in the second half. However, minutes after that, Martin Odegaard levelled the game with over 30 minutes to go.
Formation towards the final minutes
United kept pressing forward and got a penalty 70th minute, which Ronaldo tucked away to score the winner. Minutes after that, Carrick started to make substitutions and brought on the likes of Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial and Donny van de Beek for late cameos.
That didn’t really make that huge an impact, as the game ended 3-2 after the Red Devils were able to hold onto their lead to get a vital win in front of Ralf Rangnick.
