The dancing feet of Bukayo Saka, the coming of age of Eddie Nketiah, the groans from Manchester red and blue. If this is to be Arsenal's season, then this was a day they'll not forget in a hurry.
A 90th-minute winner from Nketiah, his second goal of the game, settled a modern classic in this great rivalry. Manchester United gave so much to the game, but Arsenal were outstanding and truly worthy winners. It was 3-2 in the end, and the roars of "Eddie, Eddie" were music to the ears of Nketiah and his manager, Mikel Arteta.
What spirit it was that carried the home players. Feeding off a crowd that believes in them, that senses a championship is incoming, the end of a 19-year wait, Arsenal never stopped driving forward, and finally United cracked.
With a 3-1 win at Old Trafford in September, United had already seen to it that this Arsenal cannot follow in the footsteps of the 2003-04 'Invincibles' and go unbeaten through the Premier League season.
But that remains the only defeat the Gunners have had through 19 games, while this was a fifth loss for United, for whom the title is probably now out of reach, their resurgence having hit a bump in the road.
This was the day when Cristiano Ronaldo made his Al Nassr debut, and we witnessed again how United are better off for being without him, Marcus Rashford hitting another exceptional goal for them. Yet United's newest central striker, loanee Wout Weghorst, was largely quiet, while Antony on the right flank flattered to deceive, and you did not need to look far for a stark contrast.
Nketiah, trusted now by Arteta as a frontman for the big occasion, prowled and hassled United's defence and got his rich reward, while Saka's twinkling toes had Luke Shaw in trouble all afternoon long. Saka hit the goal of the game, while Nketiah poached twice from point-blank range.
Saka became only the third Arsenal player to score in three consecutive Premier League appearances against United, after Freddie Ljungberg and Thierry Henry, those Gunners greats of yore, heroes of Highbury.
They've not celebrated a Premier League title since moving to Emirates Stadium, and this particular race is only half-run, but 50 points from 19 games is some start, putting Arsenal five points clear of Manchester City, and they have a game in hand to boot.
Saka had begun to prowl with intent before the breakthrough came, and it went to United, with Rashford sidestepping Thomas Partey and driving a stunning 20-yard shot into the bottom-left corner.
That was a ninth Premier League goal of the season for Rashford, and he has nine in all competitions since returning from England's World Cup campaign, the most of any player from Europe's big five leagues.
United had not lost after scoring the opening goal in a Premier League game since October 16, 2021, when they went down 4-2 to Leicester City, so this boded well. Yet the 26-game unbeaten streak in such games would soon be in peril.
Nketiah got in front of Aaron Wan-Bissaka to head Arsenal level in the 24th minute, with Granit Xhaka's cross from the left giving the Swiss midfielder his fifth assist of the season.
Arteta, furious Shaw was not booked for a challenge on Saka as that battle heated up, later took a yellow card for his troubles.
Arsenal then roared ahead in the 53rd minute, and it was Saka at his majestic best, one-stepping with the ball at his feet on the right, teasing Christian Eriksen before letting fly with his left foot from 25 yards and fizzing the ball into the far bottom corner.
It was Saka's seventh Premier League goal of the season. He'll be going some to better it.
Up to this point, the watching Gareth Southgate would have been enjoying the contest, but England's manager would not have liked the sight of Aaron Ramsdale flapping at a corner soon after, giving Lisandro Martinez the chance to loop in the header that brought United level in the 59th minute.
"This is retro Man United-Arsenal," bellowed Gary Neville on Sky Sports.
Manchester City must have been loving the look of the 2-2 scoreline between their top-four rivals, with City's earlier 3-0 trouncing of Wolves closing the gap at the top, but Arsenal weren't finished. Saka went close, his strike flicking off Eriksen and clipping the outside of the right post.
Arsenal had 69.9 per cent of possession from the 60th to 75th minutes, staking out their prey but unable to make the kill.
They summoned Leandro Trossard in the 82nd minute, the new arrival from Brighton and Hove Albion entering the fray in place of Gabriel Martinelli.
Shaw was booked in the 83rd minute for getting close enough to Saka to stand on the winger's left foot, and from the free-kick Arsenal developed a glorious chance. The ball came through a thicket of players before reaching Nketiah, whose shot was brilliantly pushed wide by David de Gea.
Heads might have gone down in a previous season, but this time Arsenal kept pressing forward.
And then, in the 90th minute, came their reward. Zinchenko's cutback found Martin Odegaard, and with Fred for close company the captain bundled the ball on for Nketiah to toe in from four yards.
Alex Ferguson and David Beckham had taken their seats at Emirates Stadium in the hope of watching United's rejuvenation gather pace, but instead Arsenal put them in their place, clinching a sixth win in their last eight home league games against the Red Devils.
United are perhaps a season behind Arsenal in terms of emerging from years of gloom.
Erik ten Hag's team are not far away, but here they encountered something approaching a finished product. A north London derby win has been followed by victory over United, and it won't be easy street for Arsenal from here on, but once you clear those hurdles, why fear anything?
Which is one way of saying: it's Manchester City next, on Friday, in the FA Cup. Pass the popcorn.
Cleverley: Watford 'deserved to win' after improved second half
Tom Cleverley believes Watford "deserved the three points" after an improved second-half display saw them beat Oxford United 1-0.
Vakoun Bayo scored the only goal of the match in the 54th minute after he turned in the rebound of his own saved shot.
It is the fifth goal he has scored in three games, having also netted four times in the Hornets' 6-2 victory over Sheffield Wednesday last weekend.
The hosts registered 12 shots, seven of which were on target, as they upped the pressure after the break. They only had four attempts in the first half, though Ciaron Brown had to clear an in-swinging Watford corner off his own goal line on the stroke of half-time.
The three points lift Watford up to fourth in the Championship table ahead of the rest of the weekend's fixtures, and Cleverley was pleased with the marked improvement he saw in the second 45 minutes.
"I thought the second-half performance was really good until the last five minutes really," he told Sky Sports.
"I thought we didn't manage the game as well as we could do and a few refereeing decisions - dubious one that went against us - meant they could get the ball in our box.
"So, it felt a bit hands to the pump at the end, but I thought for the first 35 minutes of the second half, we were absolutely fantastic and were unlucky not to make it two, three.
"Understandably flat performance in the first half, probably from both teams with it being such a demanding week.
"But I thought our second-half performance in the main deserved the three points and our supporters helped us through."
Meanwhile, Oxford remain 16th and have now won just one of their last 10 matches in the Championship.
They failed to register a single shot on target in the first half, and are yet to win a game when conceding the opening goal in the league this season, with this the fifth such match they have gone behind.
It was Oxford's sixth defeat of the season and while manager Des Buckingham said there were positives to take, he was left frustrated by their lack of a clinical edge.
"I'm extremely proud but extremely frustrated," he said.
"I'm disappointed we haven't come away with something. I felt we created enough, we just haven't taken them. If we keep playing that way, we will be fine.
"We speak about being a together group. We did well, but Watford took their chance."
'When we get to that level, we're unstoppable' - Shaw hits hat-trick in Man City rout
Khadija Shaw believes Manchester City are "unstoppable" when they raise their level after securing a resounding 4-0 win over Tottenham in the Women's Super League.
Shaw made history, overtaking Vivianne Miedema as the player with the most WSL hat-tricks and becoming the first player in the league to net three separate trebles against the same side.
The Jamaican opened the scoring after just 23 seconds, robbing Clare Hunt of the ball, before adding to her tally in the 15th and 67th minutes to take the match ball home. Jill Roord had added City's third 91 seconds before Shaw wrapped up her hat-trick.
City dominated throughout, with Lauren Hemp also unlucky not to end up on the scoresheet after hitting both posts and the bar with a pacy strike from inside the box.
It was a win that moved City four points clear at the top of the WSL table ahead of Chelsea's match at Liverpool on Sunday.
Shaw was delighted to walk away with the match ball, but especially with the quality that City have shown so far this campaign.
"We really enjoyed that one," Shaw told Sky Sports. "We spoke as a team that we wanted to come out here and be on the front foot.
"Fortunately for me, with my pressing that I've been working on, we managed to get the goal. It was a good night.
"With the players that I have around me, I know that I’m going to get crosses, it's just making the right movements in the box and they will find me. I've just been getting better and growing, so I'm happy.
"At the back end of last season, we just fell short with the goal difference. It's about staying consistent, because we know we have the quality.
"Once we go at every game on the front foot from the first whistle, we're really good at that. We have to keep going and see where we can raise the level even better, so when we get to that level, we're unstoppable."
City have won their last nine matches in all competitions, scoring seven goals without reply in their last two WSL outings.
Despite their emphatic win at the Etihad Stadium on Friday though, Gareth Taylor still believes there is room for improvement from his side, especially with reigning champions Chelsea next up for them in the league.
"I said to them, I think we can be better," Taylor told Sky Sports.
"I thought at times tonight we were a little bit loose. A little bit slow with our play. It's really difficult to be critical because it's a different environment for us."
Cushing confirms NYCFC stay after links to vacant Arsenal role
New York City FC boss Nick Cushing rubbished rumours linking him with the vacant head coach position with Arsenal women, confirming he would remain in the MLS next season.
Cushing previously spent seven years in charge of Manchester City in the Women's Super League between 2013 and 2020 and has been touted for a return to England with the Gunners after Jonas Eidevall's dismissal last month.
Despite the rumours circulating around his future after leading NYCFC into the postseason, Cushing was quick to deny reports, saying: "I can confirm that I will be back here next year."
The Pigeons travel to the TQL Stadium to face FC Cincinnati this weekend in an encounter that will decide who will advance to the Eastern Conference semi-finals in the MLS playoffs.
Cushing encouraged his players to play their football and dig deep in their pursuit of a victory, adding his side can harness the momentum generated from their 3-1 win in Game 2.
"It's about trying to show our players how much our fans enjoy seeing that type of performance from our players," he said. "Not just the good football and the goals, but the guts and the fight and the desire to ensure that we are the team that goes through the next game right.
"The performance at Citi Field had everything. Not only did we play well and create chances, but the running numbers were excellent, as was the desire to make sure that we didn't give the second goal away.”
"We've got to make sure that we play the football that our fans deserve and that we know we can play, and in the difficult moments, you have to dig deep. We know who we are now. We've just got to make sure that we go prepared, and we deliver everything that we've got.”
Pat Noonan, meanwhile, noted that his side were unable to create clear-cut opportunities against NYCFC, which resulted in defeat last time out.
The Orange and Blue scored 58 goals in the regular season, with only the four sides who finished above them in the East netting more.
But despite their defeat in Game 2, Noonan is confident that his players will respond in their deciding fixture, not wanting to end their season just yet.
"We've created enough chances. These are playoff games. You're not going to score three, four, five goals a game. So sometimes one goal is going to have to be enough like we saw last week," Noonan said.
"I don't expect us to score at ease. That's just not how these games are played. But it was going to take a little bit more, and we just didn't finish some of those moments when it was 2-1 to level it in a better way or in a good enough way.
"I could see it in the locker room. The guys are going to move on from this pretty quickly. For a team that just lost a game, I think they recognise the good and the bad of the game to know they should feel confident going into Game 3.
"So at the moment, I don't think I need to say too much. I think they understand, and we'll just have good conversations about this game and what we think needs to improve when we go back home."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
FC Cincinnati – Luca Orellano
Orellano scored Cincinnati's only goal in their Game 2 defeat to the Pigeons, notching his 13th goal in all competitions this term.
He is the seventh different player to score Cincinnati's last seven playoff goals dating back to last season's first round. Four of those seven scorers hail from Argentina.
NYCFC – Alonso Martinez
Martinez found the back of the net against Cincinnati in NYCFC's 3-1 win in Game 2, taking his tally to two goals in five appearances against the Orange and Blue.
Along with Santiago Rodriguez, either Martinez (nine) or his Uruguayan team-mate (five) have scored 14 of NYCFC's 21 goals in the regular season and playoffs since MLS returned from the Leagues Cup break in August.
MATCH PREDICTION: FC CINCINNATI WIN
Cincinnati's 3-1 defeat in Game 2 was the fifth time they conceded multiple goals in their last seven matches dating back to the end of the regular season.
They are winless when allowing multiple goals in that time (D1 L4) while winning both matches in which they held their opponent under two goals.
NYCFC have won only one of their last 14 away matches in all competitions dating back to late May (D6 L7). Overall, they have won just five out of 40 away matches in all competitions since the start of last season (D15 L20).
The Pigeons' win over Cincinnati last Saturday was their second win of the season over Noonan's side, both coming at home. Cincinnati have won their last five home matches against NYCFC in all competitions, though, including a 1-0 victory in Game 1 of their best-of-three series.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
FC Cincinnati – 50%
Draw – 25.3%
NYCFC – 24.7%
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