The Gunners came from behind to secure a 3-2 victory over the Red Devils to go 5 points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
A pulsating encounter unfolded at the Emirates as the young crop of Arsenal players prevailed over a decent Manchester United side, who showed glimpses of quality in the game.
Arsenal Scored Late Goal to secure the Win:
Arsenal left it late to win the match and secure 3 points. Striker Eddie Nketiah finished a poacher’s goal to get the winner, but the goal led to a VAR check for a possible offside, stopping the Arsenal fans’ heartbeat for a moment.
Was Zinchenko and Nketiah Offside?
In the 90th minute, new-signing Leandro Trossard swivelled and ran through the United defense, before teeing the ball for Oleksandr Zinchenko on the left-hand side, who then crossed infield. The ball took a deflection from Manchester United’s midfielder Fred and Eddie Nketiah finished expertly to give Arsenal the winner.
The VAR check showed Eddie Nketiah was clearly onside and the goal was given. But Manchester United fans were bemused as they claimed Zinchenko could have also been on a possible offside position when Trossard played him the ball, as the VAR didn’t check, or at least the check wasn’t shown during the broadcast.
But all the uproar from the Red Devils fanatics has been put to rest by ESPN journalist Dale Johnson, who shared a snap of the play and confirmed the broadcasters only showed the Nketiah incident after checking Zinchenko’s position, albeit was not shown on TV.
Here’s the Oleksandr Zinchenko onside image for Arsenal’s winner against Manchester United.
Sky didn’t switch to the VAR feed until after Zinchenko’s position had been checked, which is why viewers only saw the check on Eddie Nketiah. #ARSMUN pic.twitter.com/wKN6NL1jHu
— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) January 22, 2023
The image clearly shows the Arsenal defender was onside when Trossard released his pass, and any possible negligence of VAR can be dismissed.
Mikel Arteta’s men were outstanding in the match and showed resilience and passion to come back through Nketiah after Marcus Rashford scored the opening goal for the visitors. Bukayo Saka gave Arsenal a 2-1 lead at the start of the second half, which was quickly cancelled out by Lisnadro Martinez’s header. In the end, Nketiah settled the tie with his second goal of the night to secure a monumental win for his team.