RUBEN Amorim’s goalkeeping gamble backfired as Riccardo Calafiori’s first-half header gave Arsenal a 1-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in their English Premier League clash today.
In their £200m summer rebuild, United opted against bringing in a new keeper.
With first choice Andre Onana not playing a game in a pre-season because of a hamstring injury he suffered at the start of last month, Amorim selected Turkey international Altay Bayindir ahead of veteran Tom Heaton for his side’s opening Premier League game.
But Bayindir allowed himself to get trapped on his line as Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice curled a dangerous 13th-minute corner underneath the crossbar.
Bayindir could only get a weak hand to the ball and ended up pushing it on to Calafiori, who turned home what turned out to be the winner from less than a yard.
The result was harsh on the home side, who were much improved on last season and carried by far the greater threat in the game, accumulating more possession and having significantly more shots and efforts on target.
However, Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya made a series of excellent saves to keep the home side out, turning away three shots from one United debutant Matheus Cunha and scrambling to his left in the second half to keep out a goalbound effort from another, Bryan Mbeumo.
Rice went close for the visitors with a late free-kick but Arsenal were still able to complete their fifth victory in six league games over United.
Earlier, Eberechi Eze was denied a brilliant free-kick goal and potential fairytale ending in what could be his final appearance for Crystal Palace in the 0-0 Premier League draw at Chelsea.
The midfielder, 27, was a doubt for selection amid ongoing talks with Tottenham, but started for the visitors at Stamford Bridge and powered home a free-kick from 20 yards in the 13th minute.
However, the strike was ruled out by referee Darren England after a VAR check because Palace defender Marc Guehi – also linked with a move away to Liverpool – was within one metre of Chelsea’s wall when the free-kick was taken.
The rule, which has been in place since 2019, is rarely applied but cost Palace, who missed further chances through striker Jean-Philippe Mateta and Maxence Lacroix, and were the better team earlier on.
Chelsea celebrated becoming world champions over the summer before kick-off but delivered a flat first-half display.
Their best chances fell to substitute debutants Estevao Willian, Liam Delap and Andrey Santos after the break.
It was just 35 days since Chelsea won the Club World Cup final against Paris St-Germain in New Jersey, which shortened their pre-season preparation to just 13 days.
Five players made league debuts for the Blues on Sunday – Estevao, Delap, Santos, Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens – after another busy summer of business at Stamford Bridge.
By contrast, Palace started their own pre-season a day before Chelsea’s 2024-2025 campaign had even finished. The final two weeks of the window could be crucial for the Eagles with two of their star players potentially leaving the club.
BBC Sport