Arsenal 3-2 Manchester United: Nketiah settles five-goal thriller

The Gunners found a winner late on to see off the fourth-placed Red Devils and re-open a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.

Arsenal 3-2 Manchester United: Nketiah settles five-goal thriller
Photo: Eddie Nketiah celebrates his match-winner against Manchester United/Photo: Stuart MacFarlane/Getty Images
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By John Lupo

Arsenal remained in control of the Premier League title race following Eddie Nketiah's 90th-minute winner that gave the Gunners a 3-2 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium.

Manchester City defeated Wolves earlier in the day, but a quality performance saw the Gunners retain their five-point lead with a game in hand.

The Red Devils took a 17th-minute lead as the in-form Marcus Rashford struck with his right foot from 25 yards away.

Seven minutes later, the hosts were level when a cross from Granit Xhaka found the head of Nketiah, who got in front of Aaron Wan-Bissaka at the far post to beat David De Gea.

Buyako Saka made it 2-1 to Arsenal with an angled drive, but Manchester United hit back six minutes later as Lisandro Martinez scored his first goal for the club after Aaron Ramsdale dropped a corner.

Saka then hit the post and De Gea denied Nketiah, but the forward grabbed his second of the game as he turned in from close range to spark wild celebrations in the English capital.

Arsenal extended their unbeaten run to 13 matches, while Manchester United saw a six-match unbeaten streak come to an end as they stay fourth in the Premier League table.

Story of the match

The game was fast-paced in the early stages and Arsenal had a couple of early chances, but Martin Odegaard got his shot all wrong when well-placed and Thomas Partey went wide.

Odegaard played a neat reverse pass to Gabriel Martinelli, but the Brazilian shot over from 20 yards before being crowded out in the box.

On 17 minutes, United went in front against the run of play. The Red Devils won possession in midfield and Fernandes played the ball to Rashford, who squeezed his shot just inside the post.

Arsenal goalkeeper <strong><a  data-cke-saved-href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2022/10/23/premier-league/1127339-southampton-1-1-arsenal-post-match-player-ratings.html' href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2022/10/23/premier-league/1127339-southampton-1-1-arsenal-post-match-player-ratings.html'>Aaron Ramsdale</a></strong> fails to keep out <strong><a  data-cke-saved-href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2023/01/17/premier-league/1134921-crystal-palace-vs-manchester-united-premier-league-preview-gameweek-20-2023.html' href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2023/01/17/premier-league/1134921-crystal-palace-vs-manchester-united-premier-league-preview-gameweek-20-2023.html'>Marcus Rashford</a></strong>'s shot to that gave <b><a  data-cke-saved-href='https://www.vavel.com/en/data/manchester-united' href='https://www.vavel.com/en/data/manchester-united'>Manchester United</a></b> the lead/Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale fails to keep out Marcus Rashford's shot to that gave Manchester United the lead/Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

The Gunners looked for an immediate response, Saka and Martinelli doing some good work before Nketiah saw his shot blocked following a corner.

In the 24th minute, the hosts were indeed level as Xhaka's cross from the left found the head of an unmarked Nketiah, who beat De Gea to make it 1-1.

Ramsdale was called into action to palm away Scott McTominay's effort as the action was now end-to-end.

Wout Weghorst continued to push forward in the Red Devils high-press as he looked to connect the midfield and attack to cause problems for the Arsenal back-line.

The hosts took the lead when Saka found time and space to switch the ball onto his left foot before his low drive found the back of the net.

Rashford nearly equalised straight away, cutting inside before his deflected shot was brilliantly saved by Ramsdale.

The Red Devils levelled as the Arsenal goalkeeper was unable to deal with Christian Eriksen's corner and a looping header by Martinez flew over William Saliba to set up a grandstand finish.

Momentum shifted back to the Gunners as the ball fell to Odegaard, but Eriksen was on hand to intercept his left-footed shot and deflect it clear.

Saka was unlucky not to put Arsenal in front, cutting inside to his favoured left foot, his strike hitting Eriksen and clattering off of the post before trickling out of play.

The ball fortuitously found the feet of Nketiah, but De Gea was on hand to keep the score level as the hosts continued to push forward in search of a winner.

It appeared the points would be shared, until Arsenal grabbed a last-gasp winner. Oleksandr Zinchenko's cross picked out Xhaka and his effort at goal found Nketiah who had a simple tap-in from close range.

<strong><a  data-cke-saved-href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2023/01/05/premier-league/1133563-arsenal-0-0-newcastle-gunners-miss-chance-to-go-10-points-clear-following-turbulent-draw-with-newcastle.html' href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2023/01/05/premier-league/1133563-arsenal-0-0-newcastle-gunners-miss-chance-to-go-10-points-clear-following-turbulent-draw-with-newcastle.html'>Eddie Nketiah</a></strong> heads home the winner that gave Arsenal a 3-2 victory over <strong><a  data-cke-saved-href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2023/01/21/premier-league/1135408-crystal-palace-0-0-newcastle-united-magpies-frustrated-in-selhurst-park-draw.html' href='https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2023/01/21/premier-league/1135408-crystal-palace-0-0-newcastle-united-magpies-frustrated-in-selhurst-park-draw.html'>Manchester United</a></strong>/Photo: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images
Eddie Nketiah heads home the winner that gave Arsenal a 3-2 victory over Manchester United/Photo: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

Player of the match: Eddie Nketiah

Another excellent display from the Arsenal forward, who has been filling in for the injured Gabriel Jesus. Pressed constantly, linked up with teammates well and scored twice.

Showed a great amount of resiliency to shrug off a couple of missed chances to score the winner that could prove to be decisive in settling the title race.