Arsenal 3-1 Man Utd: Ronaldo's 100th PL goal not enough to stop Gunners

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th Premier League goal but it was not enough to stop Arsenal moving into fourth thanks to a 3-1 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium.

Match Report

Ronaldo, who was starting for the first time since the announcement of the death of his newborn son, scored his landmark goal in the 34th minute as he pulled a goal back for Man Utd after they fell behind following Nuno Tavares' early goal (3) and Bukayo Saka's penalty.

Despite trailing, United produced a vastly-improved performance from their 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool in midweek, and they were gifted a penalty of their own early in the second half after Tavares' inexplicable handball.

However, they failed to take advantage as Bruno Fernandes' spot-kick hit the outside of the post, and it proved a costly miss as Granit Xhaka produced a thunderbolt of a strike to secure what could be a crucial victory in Arsenal's bid to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Victory sees the Gunners move into fourth spot in the Premier League and three points ahead of their north London rivals Tottenham, who travel to Brentford, live on Sky Sports from 5pm this evening (kick-off 5.30pm).

Meanwhile, defeat is a catastrophic blow to Ralf Rangnick's side's own hopes of securing Champions League football for next season. United, who announced the appointment of Erik ten Hag as manager for next season on Thursday, are now six points behind the fourth-placed Gunners, having played a game more.

Match Events

0' Players are warming up before the game

0' KICK-OFF! Who can win this match?

2' GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Man Utd (Nuno Tavares)

7' In the 7th minute, fans applauded Ronaldo

8' Maguire watches the game in the bench

15' Elanga goes down in the box but ref says no penalty!

19' CHANCE! Odegaard's free-kick over the bar

20' CLOSE! Ronaldo's shot over the bar

28' Disallowed! Nketiah scores but the goal is offside

31' Penalty Goal! Arsenal 2-0 Man Utd (Saka)

33' GOAL! Arsenal 2-1 Man Utd (Ronaldo)

47' CLOSE! Telles' shot denied by Ramsdale

48' CHANCE! Odegaard's long shot denied by De Gea

50' NICE TRY! Tavares' shot wide out

56' Penalty Missed! (Bruno Fernandes)

60' OFFSIDE! Ronaldo's goal disallowed

65' McTominay pulls Gabriel down to the ground, should there have been a card?

69' GOAL! Arsenal 3-1 Man Utd (Xhaka)

75' Yellow Card! Bruno Fernandes booked

Line-ups

Arsenal XI: Xhaka, Cedric, M.Elneny, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel, Ramsdale, B. White, Smith Rowe, Nketiah, Nuno Tavares, Saka

Subs: Lacazette, Leno, Pepe, Holding, Tomiyasu, A. Lokonga, Martinelli, Z. Swanson, M. Azeez

Man Utd XI: Ronaldo, Matic, De Gea, Alex Telles, Lindelof, Varane, Bruno Fernandes, Dalot, Sancho, McTominay, A. Elanga

Subs: Mata, Jones, Maguire, Lingard, Bailly, Dean Henderson, Rashford, Wan-Bissaka, Alejandro Garnacho