Why did Manchester United vs Arsenal friendly go to penalties despite Red Devils winning 2-0 in normal time?
Arsenal and Manchester United saw their friendly clash on Saturday (July 22) go to penalties despite having a clear winner. The Red Devils prevailed over their Premier League rivals 2-0.
It was goals from Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho in the first half that sealed the victory.
Regardless of the result, the two sides battled it out from the spot and it was the Red Devils who prevailed yet again, beating their opposition 5-3. Fabio Vieira was the only one to miss in the shoot-out as he skied his penalty over the bar.
The crowd were treated to a shoot-out at the end of the game as both managers wanted their players to attempt spot-kicks. This would serve as practice for similar situations in the upcoming season.
Both Arsenal and Manchester United will take part in domestic cup competitions and the UEFA Champions League.
The Gunners faced a setback in their USA tour after dealing a crushing defeat to the MLS All-Stars. The north London outfit ran away 5-0 victors that game as newly signed Kai Havertz got on the scoresheet towards the end of the tie.
On the other hand, Manchester United have won all of their pre-season fixtures so far, however, the club are still to face Wrexham, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund before the commencement of the regular season.
Mikel Arteta reacts to Arsenal's pre-season defeat against Manchester United
Mikel Arteta spoke out after Arsenal suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Premier League rivals Manchester United.
The Spanish tactician did not have an issue with the physicality on display in the game. Rather, the boss focused on the Gunners conceding the lead in the first half to the opposition. He said (via Metro):
"It’s obviously tough to take, whether it’s a friendly or not against United. We’ll learn from it and you can’t really give two goals away like that against a team like this because then it’s really hard to come back. We just need to learn from it."
The club will take on FC Barcelona in their next pre-season friendly before playing Monaco in the Emirates Cup.