Manchester United’s Premier League 2025-26 campaign opener did no go as planned. The ‘Red Devils’ had to face a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat at the hands of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
Manchester United’s Premier League 2025-26 campaign opener did no go as planned. The ‘Red Devils’ had to face a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat at the hands of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
Manchester United controlled much of the game against Arsenal but ultimately slipped to defeat when Riccardo Calafiori rose to head in the decisive goal.
United responded strongly, creating 22 attempts and dominating possession, but a £200 million front line of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and substitute Benjamin Sesko failed to beat goalkeeper David Raya. Patrick Dorgu hit the post, while Cunha and Mbeumo were denied by Raya’s reflexes.
Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha were United’s standout performers, with the latter denied what appeared to be a clear penalty — another example of the questionable officiating that has marred the start of the season.
The controversy didn’t end there. Arsenal’s winning goal also raised eyebrows, with William Saliba seemingly backing into Altay Bayındır while holding onto the goalkeeper’s arm.
Even so, Bayındır will feel he should have dealt with the situation more convincingly and that was something Ruben Amorim echoed after the match.
While there was plenty of attention on the Arsenal goal and the controversy surrounding that, it was the foul on Cunha inside the box which simply stunned fans.
Saliba attempted to play the ball but only got the foot of Cunha, who went down, and VAR waved it away so quickly.
During the game, ex-Premier League referee Mike Dean attempted to explain why the foul was not looked at by the VAR but he just confused fans further.
The ex-referee said that the contact from Saliba was fine as it was ‘foot on foot contact’.
the Portuguese coach said “We need to win games but that was completely different to last season. We were the better team. In the end we lose the game, but really proud of the performance. We proved today we can win any game in the Premier League, against a great team like Arsenal,” the Portuguese coach said.
However, a controversial call regarding an apparent foul on Matheus Cunha sunk the game into controversy. Fans on social media were livid as they claimed that William Saliba’s attempt for the ball was completely missed and he ended up tripping up United’s new signing Matheus Cunha. Despite several appeals from the Red Devils, no penalty was.
