The mistake of the defense caused Arsenal to lose to Manchester United in a friendly match in the US. Arsenal played with the most powerful squad with 3 rookies Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber.
Arsenal played with a strong squad with 3 rookies worth more than £ 200 million. While Manchester United have had the return of many pillars, the starting lineup is not the strongest when young talent Kobbie Mainoo pairs up with rookie Mason Mount (€60 million) in the role of central midfielder, supporting Sancho to play at the top.
After Anthony and Martinelli missed a good chance at either end of goal, Bruno Fernandes shone in the 30th minute with a left-footed shot from outside the box to open the scoring for Manchester United.
Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale reacted a bit slow in this situation, so he could not push the shot of the new Red Devils captain.
Five minutes later, centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes made a fatal mistake because he missed the ball, allowing Jadon Sancho to accelerate and hit the roof of Arsenal’s net in the face of goalkeeper Ramsdale, making it 2-0 for Manchester United.
At the end of the first half, a dispute broke out between the two teams due to Lisandro Martinez hitting the ball a bit rough with Saka, causing Arsenal players to react. The referee showed a yellow card to warn the Argentine midfielder.
At the beginning of the second half, coach Erik ten Hag changed 10 positions and only kept goalkeeper Thomas Heaton, who played well in this match when Andre Onana could not make his debut because he had just trained with his new teammate not long ago. The pity for Amad Diallo was that he had just come on but suffered an ankle pain and was replaced by Facundo Pellistri.
Meanwhile, coach Mikel Arteta used a right of change with Tomiyasu making way for Kieran Tierney.
With Casemiro – Christian Eriksen in the middle of the field, Manchester United took the initiative against Arsenal and also proved dangerous every time he got on the ball.
In the 64th minute, Diogo Dalot broke into the penalty area before stretching for Marcus Rashford. In a favorable position without being tagged, the English striker has just signed a new contract with a salary of £ 325,000 / week but missed the ball, missed the opportunity to score in front of an empty goal. It was the Red Devils’ best chance in the second half.
On the Arsenal side, Kai Havertz had a good chance but headed over the bar even though no one was watching.
In the 71st minute, Arteta made a series of adjustments when Jorginho, Fabio Vieira, Leandro Trossard, Emile Smith Rowe entered the field but did not help the Gunners have a goal to shorten the gap.
Overall, Declan Rice (£105m), Kai Havertz (£65m) and Jurrien Timber (£40m) did not perform as expected against a strong opponent like Manchester United in New York City (USA).
