Manchester United’s players scored the goals in their penalty shootout victory over Arsenal, but the assist for each of their strikes should probably be awarded to an Englishman based more than 500 miles away from the Emirates Stadium: Harry Kane.

What has the England captain got to do with United winning a penalty shootout over Arsenal? Well, it was Kane who first spotted a potential flaw in the penalty-stopping technique of David Raya, the Arsenal goalkeeper.

When Kane came up against Raya for Bayern Munich last season, in the Champions League quarter-finals, only a few weeks had passed since the Arsenal goalkeeper had produced a sensational shootout performance against Porto. Raya made two fabulous saves to secure victory for his team, using his athleticism to dive at full stretch towards his corners.

In preparation for his meeting with Raya, Kane therefore studied video footage of the Spaniard’s technique. “I did some research on his [shootout] against Porto — he really gets to the corners early,” Kane said after the game. “So I had to change my style a little bit. It was nice to see him go early and make it easy for me.”

Kane’s change of approach was to produce an uncharacteristically slow run-up, in which he waited for Raya to make the first move. When Raya leaned to the right, Kane simply slotted the ball to his left.

At the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, three of United’s five takers produced similarly slow run-ups that meant Raya made the first move. As it was against Kane last season, Raya jumped too early — and those three United players simply diverted the ball to the other side of the goal.

Such is Raya’s incredible spring, he actually dived beyond his left-hand post for Leny Yoro’s penalty. It was an extraordinary leap. The problem for Arsenal was that the ball was instead fired into the other side of the net, meaning that Raya was marooned on the wrong side of the goalposts.

It seems this is simply Raya’s approach to stopping penalties in shootouts: committing to one side with full courage and conviction. Against Porto last season, it worked spectacularly. Against United, it prompted sneers and jeers from opposition fans on social media.

Curiously, though, it is not always Raya’s approach outside of penalty shootouts. Against Tottenham Hotspur last season, for example, Raya did not guess a side when he faced Son Heung-min. On the occasion, the ball was past him before he had even begun his dive.

Another quirk from Sunday’s FA Cup match was that it was the second time that Ruben Amorim, the United head coach, had tasted shootout victory at the Emirates Stadium. At the same end of the ground, in front of the away fans, Amorim’s Sporting CP team beat Arsenal on penalties in the Europa League in 2023.

On that occasion, Aaron Ramsdale was in goal for Arsenal. Unlike Raya, Ramsdale generally moved too late in that shootout. Just like Raya, he was unable to make any saves.

Of course, none of this is to blame Raya for Arsenal’s defeat. Goalkeepers cannot be expected to save penalties. The odds, after all, are always against them. But it would be no surprise if, the next time Arsenal find themselves in a penalty shootout, Raya alters his approach to keep his opponents guessing.