Manchester United’s 2025–26 Premier League season got off to the worst possible start results wise—but Ruben Amorim will take away plenty of positives from his side’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at Old Trafford.
United laboured to their lowest finish of the Premier League era last season, unable to turn around a disastrous start that cost Erik ten Hag his job as manager and saw Amorim drafted in after tremendous success in Portugal with Sporting CP.
Signings have been made over the summer to address the club’s woes, but there’s still work to do in terms of getting players off the books—doing so may allow further strengthening to take place, likely in central midfield if at all possible.
Here, Arsenal were the favourites to pick up three points, and they took away what they came for thanks to Riccardo Calafiori’s 13th minute winner. But the runners-up for the last three Premier League seasons weren’t the dominance in a game United will feel they had the better off for much of the contest.
The main positive for United was the displays of their new signings Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha—both are huge upgrades on what Amorim was working with last season and should do plenty of good in the coming weeks and months.
Old Trafford Roar Welcomes New Season
After a perfectly observed period of silence to remember former Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva following their untimely deaths in early July, Old Trafford roared back into life once Simon Hooper blew his whistle—the excitement palpable as 70,000 home supporters prepared to usher in their first full season under Ruben Amorim.
The crowd would have been delighted with what they saw in the early exchanges. United were energetic, pressing high up the pitch as Mbeumo and Cunha sought to make nuisances of themselves, and the former got a shot away on David Raya's goal after just six minutes. The Spaniard was always in control, though, with Mbeumo’s low drive from a relatively acute angle fired straight at him.
Dorgu then flashed wide from distance before Mount typified the atmosphere inside Old Trafford, brilliantly sliding the ball away from Bukayo Saka and out for a throw.
So it was all the more disappointing when United slipped up against Arsenal’s major strength of set pieces. Declan Rice floated a deliciously flighted cross into the six-yard box and Saliba stood strong and tall against Bayındır as he also attempted to fend off Matthijs de Ligt. The end result was a tame flick of the ball off Bayındır’s glove as he attempted to fist it away, allowing it to land on the head of Calafiori who turned home from a yard out.
Mbeumo, Cunha Show Plenty of Promise
Arsenal settled into more of a rhythm soon after, but United, still backed by a feverish crowd, remained a consistent threat and had multiple good chances to draw level. Dorgu drove down the left at pace, exploiting the gap left by the advancing Ben White, and he sizzled a rocketing low drive off the outside of Raya’s post.
Cunha then surged forward at Arsenal’s defence, breaking free centrally with a buccaneering run that he became famous for at Wolves. The 26-year-old couldn’t find a way past Raya either, seeing his low shot collected easily, and he was again denied by the former Brentford goalkeeper moments later—a superb fingertip save as Cunha struck from a tight angle preserving Arsenal’s advantage.
At half-time, Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard told Sky Sports that things had been “a bit too hectic” for the wannabe Premier League title challengers. It wasn’t particularly surprising that things tightened up once play restarted—Mbeumo and Cunha had shown a real threat in the opening 45.
Amad replaced Diogo Dalot, Manuel Ugarte switched up with Casemiro and Šeško headed on for his debut with 25 minutes remaining, replacing Mount while allowing Cunha to drop into a more withdrawn role.
The crowd’s energy lifted once after Šeško’s introduction, but it was Mbeumo who forced another sprawling save from Raya—the Cameroon international getting the run on Arsenal substitute Myles Lewis-Skelly to power a header towards goal, only to see Raya’s palms ease the ball away from danger.
Šeško had one harmless effort that drifted wise, but Arsenal’s revered defensive partnership of Saliba and Gabriel settled things down—the two doing enough to nullify United’s threat, alongside player of the match Raya, to take a big three points back to north London.
Man Utd Player Ratings vs. Arsenal (3-4-2-1)
Subs not used: Tom Heaton (GK), Ayden Heaven, Tyler Fredricson, Kobbie Mainoo, Joshua Zirkzee.
Man Utd’s Player of the Match: Bruno Fernandes
Player of the Match: David Raya
Arsenal (4-3-3): David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Riccardo Calafiori; Martin Odegaard, Martín Zubimendi, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyökeres, Gabriel Martinelli.
Subs: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Cristhian Mosquera, Jurrien Timber, Mikel Merino, Ethan Nwaneri, Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Man Utd Player Ratings vs. Arsenal: Mbeumo, Cunha Lively Despite 1–0 Defeat.