Arsenal 1-1 Manchester United (3-5 pens): FA Cup third round

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Again, United overperformed away from home against one of the nation’s top sides. They’re 13th in the league at the moment: 11th best against top-half teams (in 11 games) and 14th-best against bottom-half teams (in nine games). Six of their next eight league fixtures are against teams in the bottom half, and the other two against the sides currently ninth and 10th.

Some analysis from ITV’s political editor, Robert Peston:

For Arsenal to lose two cup games at home, in such quick succession, is devastating. The heart has gone out of this team. The absence of Saka is not any kind of sufficient explanation or justification. I am a great believer that managers need to be given time and consistent support. But I cannot see any kind of strategy from Arteta and his colleagues that would transform us into trophy winners from our current status as honourable runners up

For Arsenal to lose two cup games at home, in such quick succession, is devastating. The heart has gone out of this team. The absence of Saka is not any kind of sufficient explanation or justification. I am a great believer that managers need to be given time and consistent…

— Robert Peston (@Peston) January 12, 2025

Ruben Amorim has a chat:

We had to compete no matter what, and we competed today. They had more chances but I think we deserved the win, the way we played, the way we fought. It was really tough, from the beginning we didn’t have the ball too much but we controlled without the ball. Now we have to rest the players, I’m already thinking about the next game. They’re really tired.

Sometimes we have the feeling that everything in the end is going to be OK. I felt that from the beginning of the second half, and I think also the Arsenal team felt that today is not their day. I’m really pleased for the way we controlled the game without the ball, set pieces we were really strong. We deserved to pass through this round because we suffered all together and we worked really hard.

The FA Cup fourth-round draw in full:

Manchester United v Leicester
Leeds v Millwall or Dagenham
Brighton v Chelsea
Preston or Charlton v Wycombe
Exeter v Nottingham Forest
Coventry v Ipswich
Blackburn v Wolves
Mansfield or Wigan v Fulham
Birmingham v Newcastle
Plymouth v Liverpool
Everton v Bournemouth
Aston Villa v Tottenham
Southampton or Swansea v Burnley
Leyton Orient or Derby v Manchester City
Doncaster v Crystal Palace
Stoke v Cardiff

Ties to be played from February 7-10.

An excellent fourth-round draw has concluded, and I’ll bring you the line-up shortly. First, a couple of match reports for you. Louise Taylor saw Newcastle beat Bromley:

During five years on Newcastle’s payroll Andy Woodman’s apparently endless supply of jokes prompted plenty of training ground laughter but club insiders knew better than to underestimate their goalkeeping coach.

That judgement was vindicated as, a decade after leaving Tyneside, Woodman returned as Bromley’s manager. Ultimately the team currently 12th in League Two could not prevent their hosts from recording an eighth straight victory in all competitions but, for quite a while, Woodman’s meticulously organised players frustrated Eddie Howe’s Premier League high-flyers.

Much more here:

And Ed Aarons saw Crystal Palace edge past Stockport:

For Crystal Palace supporters of a certain vintage, any meeting with Stockport is bound to bring back fond memories of Dougie Freedman’s heroics in 2001. More than two decades on from his late goal that ensured Palace avoided relegation to the third tier on the final day of the season and having spent most of the intervening period travelling in different directions, only an early strike from Eberechi Eze could separate Dave Challinor’s side from their Premier League opponents.

Oliver Glasner was grateful that Palace’s stand-in goalkeeper Matt Turner – who stepped in after a sickness bug ruled out Dean Henderson – stood firm in the second half as Stockport sniffed the opportunity of an upset.

Much more here:

Eberechi Eze quick off mark to ease Crystal Palace past Stockport

“Sterling hasn’t been fun to watch for anyone my friend,” writes Niall Fogarty. “He is simply not an intelligent footballer. His contribution to this game has been as an outlet for United to breathe a little sigh of relief as they know next to nothing will come from him.” Ultimately this was indeed the case, but I think the only Arsenal players who really challenged United’s defence were Sterling, Odegaard and Rice. Havertz was obviously terrible, and Trossard poor once he came on.

Manchester United are the first name out of the ~~hat~~ plastic drum in the fourth-round draw, and they’ll play Leicester at home!

The fourth-round draw is about to happen and we’ve got a separate liveblog for that:

FA Cup fourth-round draw – live

Altay Bayindir and Bruno Fernandes have a quick chat. Starting with the United captain:

Obviously, the circumstances of the game, we suffered a lot and sacrificed a lot as a team, and at the end you get this. It’s tough to be second goalkeeper, he came here to play. Whenever he gets his chance he’s top-class for us. He truly deserved this moment.

Bayindir, the man of the match, says all the right things:

I just helped my team. I’m working every team. I want to help this great team. Just I want to make everyone happy for this great club. If you’re not playing, it doesn’t matter. If you’re a Manchester United player you have to be ready always. Every day [Amorim} is talking with us and trying to help us. We’re trusting him, he’s trusting us, we’re fighting together.

Justice.

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 12, 2025

Joshua Zirkzee converts calmly! Raya once again goes early and wrong, and makes the taker’s job easy. Zirkzee doesn’t find the corner, and doesn’t need to. It’s all over!

Joshua Zirkzee of Manchester United celebrates scoring the winning penalty. Photograph: Marc Atkins/Getty Images

Partey does his job, getting enough height on his shot to give Bayindir no chance! Can Zirkzee win it?

Lisandro Martinez convinces Raya to commit, and sidefoots it down the middle of a now-empty net. Now Thomas Partey must score!

Bayindir goes the right way again, but Declan Rice’s penalty is just too accurate and there’s no stopping it.

Leny Yoro tucks his penalty away! It’s a pretty similar penalty to Havertz’s, only heading to the other corner of the net, and Raya went the wrong way.

Kai Havertz misses again! He sidefoots low and pretty slow, and Bayindir goes the right way!

Arsenal’s Kai Havertz looks dejected after he has his penalty saved. Photograph: David Klein/Reuters

Excellent penalty from Amad, who whips it into the corner. Raya goes the wrong way again.

Martin Odegaard hits a very similar penalty, Bayindir dives in a very similar direction, and there’s a very similar outcome!

Fernandes’s dancing feet bewitch Raya, and then he sidefoots into the empty half of the net!

Bruno Fernandes is going to start the shootout himself. Right, let’s do this.

United will also take the first penalty. Arsenal’s final xG tally was 8.23, with one goal to show for it.

Bruno Fernandes wins the coin toss, and the penalties will be taken at the United end.

In the end, the second half and extra time have almost completely expunged my memory of a very poor opening half and thus this goes down as a minor thriller. Arsenal should have won it at a canter, but Kai Havertz has completely forgotten how to score goals, Altay Bayindir is wearing his lucky gloves, and now it’s anyone’s tie.

120+2 mins: It’s kind-of-cleared, passed around a bit, crossed in again, kind-of-cleared again, and this time the referee’s had enough!

120+1 mins: There’ll be just one minute of stoppage time, and Arsenal have won a corner 20 seconds into it.

120 mins: … which Bayindir boots down the left and out of touch, obviously.

119 mins: Another Arsenal cross is headed clear, and this time the referee blows for a free-kick, Havertz having bundled into Mazraoui.

118 mins: Odegaard sends yet another left-footed cross into the area from the right, but it’s just too high for Havertz, who top-of-the-heads it out of play.

117 mins: … which Bayindir boots down the left and out of touch, obviously.

116 mins: It’s headed clear. Arsenal win a throw-in and Sterling runs into the penalty area again, but he knocks the ball a bit too far. Goal kick.

116 mins: Another Arsenal corner, after Malacia heads Rice’s cross behind.

24 mins: Fernandes brings Sterling down and concedes a free-kick on the right. It’s taken short and Sterling runs into the area, but Malacia gets in his way and eventually wins a free-kick of his own. The BBC inform us that in final-third passes Arsenal lead 212-38.

113 mins: He is going off, though! Kieran Tierney is on. Jorginho looks to be feeling a groin muscle as he left the field.

112 mins: The physio is on, and working on Jorginho, who is on his feet and presumably not likely to go off, with penalties on the horizon.

111 mins: This time United keep it and put a decent attack together, but at the end of it Amad heads wide.

110 mins: Sterling is given offside (wrongly, I think) in United’s penalty area, giving Bayindir another chance to hit a long ball down the left.

108 mins: Arsenal win their 10th corner. It’s played short, popped around a bit, and eventually Martinelli’s looping header drops to Bayindir.

106 mins: United nearly score! Zirkzee finds Amad with an excellent pass, who sends it back again with another fine pass. He tries to beat Raya at the far post but the shot is deflected towards the near, only for the keeper to fingertip it wide!