Manchester United produced a battling performance to dump Arsenal out the FA Cup an advance into the fourth round.
Manchester United’s defence of the FA Cup continues after a dramatic win at Arsenal.
Ruben Amorim is ultimately seeking to replicate the success Erik ten Hag enjoyed in the FA Cup last season.
A trip to Arsenal in the third round was about as difficult as United’s draw could have been, but Amorim managed to find a win.
United dragged the game to penalties with 10 men before Altay Bayindir made himself the hero in the shootout.
Bayindir not only saved from Havertz in the shootout but also denied Martin Odegaard from the spot in normal time as United advanced from the third round.
Bruno Fernandes on Carlos Fernandes message
United had to withstand major Arsenal pressure after Diogo Dalot’s red card and Bayindir came up with some big saves.
We can’t ignore Arsenal’s profligacy in front of goal, but United did not fold after going down to 10 men – and Amorim has to be proud of that.
Amorim will certainly love the fluidity in United’s counter-attacking goal whilst we saw examples of United players sprinting back to defend Arsenal breaks.
That should be the bare minimum really, but United fans have seen too many instances of players not putting in the hard yards.
Captain Bruno Fernandes – who rifled United’s goal at the Emirates Stadium – has now shared a conversation with Amorim’s assistant Carlos Fernandes before the game.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Bruno noted that his namesake hammered home the need for ‘more desire’ when making runs into the box.
Bruno added that his goal came from such a situation with United players flying forward to try and make the most of Garnacho’s break.
Bruno feels that United must show the same attitude to getting back defending too, with Fernandes and Amorim clearly looking to bring more out of the United squad.
“Like yesterday, Carlos came to talk with me – the assistant of the manager before the game – telling me that we need more desire to run into the box, to make the run, to get in there,” said Fernandes.
“When we are on the counter, we need to run. And the goal comes a little bit from that. Garnacho recovers the ball, then Diogo jumps, then Garna gets the ball from Gabriel. And in my mind was just like, ‘just run as quick as you can to get into the box because you know Garna is quick and is going to get there before you. So you need to run as fast as you can because you need to score.’
“And that desire to defend our goal has to be the same desire to score goals. And this is something that the manager wants us to improve. And I think we have a lot to improve because we have so much quality in our team to score more goals that what we’ve been showing. This is not really the level we have here,” he added.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 11 |  BrentfordBrentford | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 38 | 35 | 3 | 27 |
| 12 |  TottenhamTottenham | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 42 | 30 | 12 | 24 |
| 13 |  Man UtdManchester United | 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 23 | 28 | -5 | 23 |
| 14 |  West HamWest Ham | 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 24 | 39 | -15 | 23 |
| 15 |  Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace | 20 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 21 | 28 | -7 | 21 |
Carlos Fernandes work on set pieces paid off
United lost 2-0 at Arsenal in December with both goals coming from set pieces.
The Gunners have been devastating from dead balls, especially corners, and United couldn’t handle them last month.
This time was a different story though with Fernandes having a major impact on United’s set piece approach.
Fernandes was heard ‘barking’ orders to United players from the touchline when defending dead balls.
United can be pleased with the improvement from the December defeat and Amorim will be looking for more progress in the coming months.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
