By Philip Duncan, PA
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim hailed Arsenal as one of the best set-piece teams he has ever faced following the 2-0 defeat at Arsenal.
The Gunners took two points out of Liverpool’s lead at the summit of the Premier League after Jurrien Timber and William Saliba struck in the second half – both from corners – to condemn Amorim to his first defeat as United boss.
The hosts’ second-half strikes took their goals-from-corners tally to 22 since the start of last season – a statistic that is unmatched by any other team in the division.
Asked if Arsenal are one of the best teams he has come up against on corners, Amorim replied: “If you follow the Premier League for a long time you can see that.
“They are also big players and you see every occasion when (Gabriel) Martinelli and (Bukayo) Saka have one-on-ones, a lot of times they go outside and they cross, and they know that if the cross goes well, they can score, and if it is a corner they can score, too, so we have to be better on that.
“You have seen in all Arsenal games that every team have had problems with that (corners). And the difference today was the set-pieces.
“You see a goal and then the momentum changed, and it is really hard for us to take the full control of the game after that.”
Timber leaned into Rasmus Hojlund at the front post before diverting Declan Rice’s set-piece into the back of Andre Onana’s net after 54 minutes to send Arsenal into the lead.
Thomas Partey’s header from Saka’s corner then deflected in off Saliba’s shoulder with 17 minutes left.
Arteta and the club’s set-piece guru Nicolas Jover embraced on the touchline as Amorim was left with his head in his hands.
The Arsenal supporters cheered raucously every time they won a corner – landing 13 in all without reply.
However, Arteta moved to play down the significance of Arsenal’s set-piece threat.
“We need that, but we want to be very dangerous and very effective from every angle and every phase of play,” said Arteta.
“Today we could have scored from open play like we did against West Ham and Sporting. Last year we scored the most goals in the history of this football club.
Arsenal have won four consecutive Premier League matches against Man Utd for the first time ever! 💫 pic.twitter.com/biv1kvsJEP
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 4, 2024
“Not because of only set-pieces, but because of a lot of things that we have. We want to create individual and magic moments, too.”
Arsenal’s win against United – the first time they have recorded four victories in a row against the Red Devils in the league – was their fourth in succession since the international break.
They will head to Fulham on Sunday bidding to keep the momentum going.
Arteta continued: “The will to win is there. We try our best to do that. We won four in a row, but it doesn’t matter. We have to go to Fulham now, try to be better than them and try win the game.
“It’s every three days that we play. It’s a crazy schedule. We’re going to need everybody and to mentally be very strong.”
