Online Reporter
Joshua Zirkzee scored the winning penalty as 10-man Manchester United beat Arsenal in a thrilling encounter to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup yesterday.
United had to play with 10 men for nearly an hour after Diogo Dalot was shown a second yellow card, having mis-timed a tackle on Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino.
Manchester United took the lead through an excellent Bruno Fernandes goal in the 52nd minute, after Alejandro Garnacho took advantage of a Gabriel slip and crossed for Fernandes to curl the ball into the top corner.
Dalot was sent off in the 61st minute after his clumsy tackle and Arsenal were level just two minutes later when centre-back Gabriel volleyed in from inside the area.
The Gunners then had a massive chance to take the lead when Kai Havertz was adjudged to have been brought down by Harry Maguire in the box and referee Andrew Madley awarded a penalty.
There was a delay in the spot-kick being taken after a melee in the box in which Maguire, Havertz and Gabriel were all booked.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard then stepped up but Altay Bayindir dived to his left to push away the ball and keep the scores level.
Mikel Arteta’s side had big chances through Declan Rice and Havertz again to win the game but could not beat the impressive Bayindir.
United were made to defend throughout extra time as Arsenal looked for ways to take the lead with their numerical advantage.
But Arteta’s side could not find a way through and Havertz had his penalty saved by Bayindir before Zirkzee sent David Raya the wrong way to win the shoot-out.
The result means Arsenal have exited the FA Cup in the third round for the third time in four seasons.
Meanwhile, Tottenham turned beating National League Tamworth into a monumental task and came close to abject humiliation before reaching the FA Cup fourth round after extra time.
Ange Postecoglou’s side were mind-numbingly poor in normal time at the Lamb Ground, then required a scrambled own goal from Tamworth’s Nathan Tshikuna to break the deadlock after 101 minutes.
Substitute Dejan Kulusevski added a superb strike, and then Brennan Johnson curled in a third after Postecoglou was forced to introduce his biggest attacking weaponry to break down Tamworth.
The home side, 96 places below Spurs in the fifth tier of football’s pyramid, performed magnificently and could not have been begrudged one of the FA Cup’s biggest shocks had they clinched victory in normal time.
Goalkeeper Jas Singh, hero of the penalty shoot-out win over Burton Albion in the second round, saved crucially from James Maddison and Timo Werner, who also saw a header cleared off the line by Haydn Hollis, in normal time.
Spurs, however, lived right on the edge, with Tamworth arguably looking more likely to score in the final moments before extra time, especially when Antonin Kinsky saved crucially from Jordan Cullinane Liburd with seconds left.
Postecoglou had introduced Dominic Solanke from the bench after the hour but needed to call on Son Heungmin and Kulusevski at the start of extra time to attempt to inject life into a desperate display, but even then it took a huge slice of good fortune to break Tamworth’s superb resistance and organisation — BBC Sport.
