Manchester United's two preparation changes fail in defeat to Arsenal

"Set-piece FC, olé, olé, olé," chortled the Arsenal fans. Arsenal were at their most dangerous from dead-ball kicks. Conceding from one was a kick in the teeth for Manchester United. A second looked like carelessness.

Carlos Fernandes, Ruben Amorim's assistant, now stands in the technical area to choreograph the set-piece strategy rather than Andreas Georgson, the set-piece coach. United went through their new set-piece drills in the warm-up. They ended up conceding from two corners and it could have been more.

Peter Schmeichel, in the Emirates press box, would have clambered over the posse of players to pluck the ball. Andre Onana never appeared that inclined and Arsenal's only openings in a tepid first half were from corners. Onana was more culpable for William Saliba's far-post header and he was as rooted to his line as David de Gea.

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Arsenal fans started to sardonically anticipate the corner chaos. They won 13 corners. United did not have one. Amorim was aghast at how Marcus Rashford conceded the corner to tee up Saliba.

United tried to beat Arsenal at their own game from a free kick but David Raya repelled Matthijs de Ligt's connection at 1-0. Antony struck softly from an innovative free kick in the 86th minute. Ultimately, United's absence of a consistent goal threat was their undoing.

Harry Maguire was the first player to have a touch inside the Arsenal area and fellow defender Diogo Dalot had their only shot of note in the first 60 minutes. Mason Mount and Alejandro Garnacho, the two 10s, saw their numbers flash up before the hour.

At one stage, the bullish United supporters applauded the team's prudent possession. Yet Amorim turned away, dismayed they had gone sideways rather than forwards.

For a half, United were competent, capable and compact. Their patient play and control of the ball was the best away from home at one of the elite in years. Arsenal emerged all guns blazing.

And so United's rotten record continues. They are now without a victory away from home in 15 against the old 'big six'. Their last win - at Tottenham in October 2021 - was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's last win in management.

Amorim constantly demanded better and that may apply to himself. Amad was surprisingly dropped to the bench yet was United's most threatening attacker, forcing Oleksandr Zinchenko into a cynical foul. "Take him on," implored the United analysts.

Holed up in the Melia White House, United had breakfast at 9am, limbered up in the early afternoon and had a team meeting as they whiled away the hours. This was a creditable performance against a side that have become something of a model club for United through their progressive league seasons and near-faultless recruitment.

Amorim had requested United fans cease chanting his name but he was eventually serenaded in the 69th minute. He has undeniably restored belief, despite United sliding back into the bottom half of the table. Their supporters were in good voice at full-time and the end was reasonably full.

United are now winless in seven at the Emirates Stadium and Arsenal racked up a historic fourth successive win over one of their biggest rivals. It gives the illusion their stadium is a cauldron when United, for 45 minutes at least, were Arsenal's equal.

Arsenal persist with the most cringe-inducing build-up, with the stadium announcer hollering the first name of each starter, prompting the crowd to reply with their surname. That preceded the hokey 'North London Forever' anthem. It was not Ipswich, never mind Istanbul. United's followers piped up with a rendition of 'Bertie Mee said to Matt Busby'.

Amorim, on his haunches more often than usual, vacated space in the ninth minute for his assistant Fernandes to position United's players for the first corner. They were still powerless to prevent the inswinger finding the wasteful Thomas Partey inside the six-yard box. They did not heed that warning.

Darren Fletcher, sitting with the United analysts, was encouraged by United's progressive play on the ball. Fernandes is working closely with the strikers and dashed out of the dugout to give Hojlund some pointers. Hojlund unnerved William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes on his debut last year yet regressed after his rewarding performance against Bodo/Glimt last week.

The Arsenal programme identified United's midfield as a "weakness" and Amorim's trial and error has quickly concluded these intense games are no longer for Christian Eriksen or Casemiro. These were nights Manuel Ugarte was bought for and Casemiro and Eriksen were unused. Ugarte is quietly developing into a more trusted starter.

In the early moments, Malacia was one against two with United out of possession and the duo were Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka. Peculiarly, Arsenal seldom targeted the left back on his first Premier League start in 556 days and that allowed Malacia to settle. When Saka did bypass him on the outside, Malacia implored Noussair Mazraoui, on the left of the back three, to join in and double up next time.

The Dutchman's night was cut short. A late second-half yellow card for delaying a quick free kick ensured Malacia went into the book and doubtless contributed to his removal for Amad. Bruno Fernandes's name was also scrawled in the referee's notebook for overzealous verbals and Harry Maguire joined him over some daft gamesmanship.

This was the third match running that Amorim made six changes. Before Arsenal, every United scorer under the incumbent had been dropped for the next game. For all the progressive strides, he is unlikely to retain the same XI against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.