Summary Manchester United suffered a disappointing defeat against Arsenal, leaving an away clash against a big six rival with zero points once again. The referee's decisions, including overturning a penalty for Arsenal, played a significant role in the match. Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag expressed frustration with the result and refereeing display, feeling that luck was not on their side.
Having already lost once in North London this season, suffering a surprise defeat against Tottenham Hotspur, the last thing Manchester United would have wanted to do is leave the capital with the sour taste of zero points once more. Yet, come full-time at The Emirates, that's exactly what happened.
Erik ten Hag's side initially looked on course to complete a classic smash and grab on away turf, with Marcus Rashford scoring the opening goal, only for Martin Odegaard to hand Arsenal an instant response.
Going back and forth in the second-half, referee Anthony Taylor played a large part, overturning a decision to award Arsenal a penalty and ruling out Alejandro Garnacho's late goal.
This allowed Declan Rice the chance to score the winning goal in the 96th minute, before Gabriel Jesus added the cherry on top in the 11th minute of stoppage time.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag was left frustrated with the result and the refereeing display, which Dermot Gallagher has since discussed.
What did Dermot Gallagher say?
Instead of focusing on just Garnacho's ruled out goal, and Taylor's decision to overturn a penalty won for Arsenal by Kai Havertz, Gallagher looked at an incident in which substitute and debutant Rasmus Hojlund hit the deck when up against Gabriel Magalhaes inside the area.
The former referee however was baffled by Ten Hag's comments that it should have been a spot kick, saying on Sky Sports: "Physical contact, but I think the defender's just too strong. I think he pushes the ball too far, and the defender just holds his ground, and doesn't do anything wrong. You see this all the time, and I'd have been stunned if Anthony Taylor had given a penalty for it."
Ten Hag had a different opinion on the matter, saying after his side's defeat, via The Metro: "I think we played a very good game but I think everything went against us. With a little more luck we win the game.
"It is not offside [for Garnacho’s goal]. Wrong angle. It is a penalty on Hojlund. And when we concede a goal, it is a foul on Jonny Evans. It is so clear and obvious. But it was a step forward and I’m happy with the performance."
How have Manchester United performed this season?
United are yet to really get going after four Premier League games this season, and the warning signs were there from the off when they just about overcame the visit of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Red Devils followed their defeat of Wolves with a deserved loss against Tottenham Hotspur, before enjoying a lucky escape against Nottingham Forest, picking up all three points despite conceding twice in the first four minutes at Old Trafford.
Truth be told, another loss always looked on the horizon, and Ten Hag's side got exactly that against Arsenal. And, whilst some decisions failed to fall United's way, to say that Arsenal deserved all three points would be a fair statement.
Now, the Manchester club must turn their attention to using the international break to fix their mounting issues. If they fail to solve their current problems, then their next game, coming against Brighton & Hove Albion, could end in another defeat.