Manchester United are into the FA Cup fourth round after beating Arsenal on penalties at the Emirates in a game that had it all.

A dull and forgettable first-half quickly gave way to a cup tie full of drama. Bruno Fernandes gave United the lead with a stunning finish from Alejandro Garnacho's pass, but Diogo Dalot was sent-off nine minutes later for collecting a second yellow card.

Gabriel equalised almost immediately and when Harry Maguire was ludicrously penalised for fouling Kai Havertz in the penalty area, Martin Odegaard had the chance to put them in front, only for Altay Bayindir to save his penalty.

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United held on for an hour with 10 men and when Bayindir saved Havertz's penalty in the shootout, it was advantage United. In a narrative twist that thrilled the away end, Joshua Zirkzee scored the winning penalty.

Maguire's reaction

Maguire has been one of the stand-out performers of the Ruben Amorim era so far and he endeared himself further to the United fans after being penalised for one of the most atrocious penalty decisions of recent times.

Referee Andrew Madley, out of his depth all afternoon in a game of this magnitude, bought a dive from Havertz in the penalty area, a decision Maguire could barely believe. After a few seconds of vigorous head-shaking, Maguire looked towards Havertz and delivered an X-rated rant that made clear what he thought of the German's antics and the standard of refereeing.

It sparked a melee in the penalty area and again Maguire walked away shaking his head, but it was another excellent performance from the centre-back. Before the trip to Liverpool, Amorim called on the 31-year-old to step up as a leader. He has done just that in two difficult games since and his reaction to Havertz was just what the United supporters wanted to see.

Amorim's encouragement

Amorim had made the unexpected announcement on Friday that second-choice goalkeeper Bayindir would start this game, and Amorim was keen to back the 26-year-old during the game.

It was Bayindir's distribution that was under the microscope. A penchant for hooking his long kicks meant United flooded that side of the pitch, but his first two went straight out of play and a third flew along the floor straight to the Arsenal midfield.

After the second effort went out of play, Amorim reacted with frustration but quickly composed himself to applaud the intent from his goalkeeper. There were times when the Turkey international was composed, but United struggled to build from the back and it felt like he was in a no-win situation with the ball at his feet.

Fernandes' organisation

In the second half of extra-time, Fernandes sprinted across to speak to Amorim and force a reorganisation in his side that ended with Lisandro Martinez playing in attack.

Martinez was carrying a knock and Fernandes alerted the bench to the problem and helped reorganise the team on the pitch, with several players swapping positions to make sure there was no weakness at the back.

He can be a beacon for criticism at times, but Fernandes has been outstanding recently and showed his leadership skills here.

Game play warm-ups

Watching United warm-up has been far more interesting under Amorim, with a lot of United's routines now focusing on in-play situations.

We've seem them practice defensive set-pieces at every match recently, with coaching staff playing the role of disruptors to try and make it more difficult for the defenders. At the Emirates, every one bar the back three took part in an attacking routine, with wing-backs and No. 10s - Fernandes and Garnacho - combining, with overlapping and underlapping runs, before deliveries were put into the area.

Away end

There were 7,956 United fans at the Emirates, an impressive number given this was the third trip to north London in five-and-a-half weeks around Christmas. But then United never struggle for numbers when it comes to support.

It should have been a ticket allocation of 9,000 under FA Cup rules, but Arsenal insisted on a lower number due to concerns about persistent standing. The two clubs were in dispute over that allocation and it ended up with the extra 1,000 seats left empty, in the upper tier above the standard away end.

It is one of the beauties of cup competition that away ends are often bigger and the United fans making the trip made outstanding noise from behind the goal.