LONDON: Manchester United’s revival under caretaker manager Michael Carrick should be taken seriously. Victory over Premier League leaders Arsenal in north London suggested that the derby win over City was no one-off surprise. The sight of Arsenal losing at home for the first time will encourage Manchester City and Aston Villa to maintain the intensity of their title race pursuit.

Arsenal had won all previous 24 matches this season in which they had scored first but all sequences come to an end sooner or later. Strikes from Bryan Mbeumo, Patrick Dorgu and Matheus Cunha wiped out the damage of an early Lisandro Martinez own goal and brief equaliser from Mikel Merino.

United thus provided another welcome sign for their fans that they have reconnected with the club’s spirit and self-belief. For all the negativity surrounding Ruben Amorim’s reign they have overtaken Chelsea and Liverpool to secure one of the Champions League slots.

Arsenal forced the pace and were rewarded after half an hour. Martin Zubimendi had a header tipped over the bar by Senne Lammens before Saka created defensive confusion and an opening goal for Jurrien Timber via Lisandro Martinez’s heel.

The lead lasted eight minutes. United snapped back with the spirit missing for much of their previous performances and forced Arsenal into a string of uncharacteristic errors. Zubimendi committed the worst with a loose back pass punished by Bryan Mbeumo for his eighth league goal of term.

Arsenal should have been stung into an all-action opening to the second half. Instead they were passive, allowing United to control possession and take the lead with a superb strike from Patrick Dorgu after an exchange of passes with Bruno Fernandes.

Arteta’s extreme concern at the negative turn of events was evidenced by the arrival of Ben White in defence, Mikel Merino in midfield plus Eberhard Eze and Victor Gyokeres in attack and then Noni Madueke. Merino thought he had saved the day with an equaliser in a goalmouth scramble but Carrick’s United had other ideas. Matheus Cunha struck a magnificent third goal to silence the Gunners and keep the title race wide open.

United’s Harry Maguire said: “We knew we had to back up the City win so to come here and get the win was a magnificent performance. Michael’s been brillant and brought us a lot of fresh energy. It’s been a tough couple of years for the fans so results like last week and thus are what they deserve.”

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