Arsenal started their pursuit of the Premier League title by squeezing out a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford on Sunday, while Man United’s costlyly assembled new forward line failed to perform.
Arsenal’s left back Riccardo Calafiori scored the lone goal after the Italian defender took advantage of a major error made by Altay Bayindir, the substitute goalkeeper for Manchester United.
Man United has spent £200 million ($271 million) on new forwards in an attempt to make up for their lack of punch in the last third. Both Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo failed to score despite their promising debuts, and Benjamin Sesko, a substitute, was unable to make Arsenal pay for not pursuing their interest in the Slovenian.
Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, is under pressure to lead the team to its first league title since 2003-04 after they have finished second for the last three seasons.
With 44 goals in 38 Premier League games last season, United had their worst season in 51 years and finished 15th in the standings. Only four other teams scored fewer goals than United.
Early on, Cunha and Mbeumo upset Arsenal’s typically unstable center-back duo of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.
However, Bayindir, who was filling in for the injured Andre Onana, made a glaring mistake that undid Man United’s good work.
In the 13th minute, Calafiori had the easiest of tasks to head into an open net after the Turkish international pathetically flapped at an inswinging Declan Rice corner.
Before halftime, Patrick Dorgu came closest to a United response with a strong long-range attempt that ricocheted off the post. Raya skillfully clawed out a strong header from Mbeumo as United continued to dominate the play without scoring.
However, Arsenal persevered to stay on par with title rivals Manchester City and Liverpool, who also triumphed on the first weekend of the season.
