Key events
Half time: Arsenal 0-0 Manchester United
45+6 mins: A ball over the home defence runs beyond the run of Mazraoui and into touch, and that’s how the half ends.
45+5 mins: Odegaard goes down off the ball, stays there for 20 seconds or so, then gets up without assistance.
45+3 mins: Odegaard eventually sends the free-kick over both wall and goal.
45+2 mins: Martinez connects with Odegaard’s ankle and concedes a free kick. He’s already on a booking, and several Arsenal player remind the referee about it. United move into an 11-3 lead on fouls conceded.
45+1 mins: Into stoppage time, of which there’ll be around five minutes.
43 mins: Another Arsenal corner, which means two minutes of preparations and a further delay while the referee makes sure people aren’t misbehaving in the penalty area, but again United deal with it.
40 mins: That was surely a foul, and Jesus injured himself doing it. After a bit of treatment he’s taken off on a stretcher, and Raheem Sterling replaces him.
38 mins: Nearly a chance for United! A bit of a snarl-up on the right ends with Mazraoui running free and the referee waving play on. Dalot is sprinting into all sorts of space on the left but he tries to pull back to Fernandes, whose heels are clipped by Jesus just before the ball gets there. Again the referee waves play on, though, and a furious Fernandes takes off a boot and flings it to the turf in fury, and then goes and fetches it, and then flings it to the turf again, all of which means he ends up getting booked.
35 mins: United get a chance to break now, but Garnacho also has no support so decides to have a shot from an unlikely distance and angle, which Raya collects.
33 mins: Arsenal keep the ball for ages but can’t find a way through, over, under or past the United defence, so they play it back to Raya – and he can, with a long ball that picks out Martinelli running into space, but he’s caught up with and the ball is cleared before he can bring it under control.
30 mins: Martinez is booked, apparently for an elbow on Jesus, though Jesus goes down clutching a knee so who knows? “Don’t the rules state that an offside player CAN play the ball legally if it reaches him after a deliberate attempt by the defender to cut out the pass and deflects it?” asks Amin Sikander. Well, the law is this:
A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately plays the ball, including by deliberate handball, is not considered to have gained an advantage, unless it was a deliberate save by any opponent.
But a deflection is not a deliberate action, so no dice.
28 mins: Eventually the corner is taken, and Mazraoui wins the header.
27 mins: A bit of a delay while Raya gets some physio treatment, for what looks most likely to be a contact lens-related issue, ahead of an Arsenal corner.
25 mins: Arsenal are absolutely rubbish on the counter-attack. They get the chance to break and Odegaard releases Jesus on the right, but as he looks up there’s only Havertz in the middle, no other white shirts anywhere remotely useful, and a ninth defender is just dropping into position.
24 mins: United’s longest, best and pretty much only extended period of possession ends with Mainoo shooting from 22 yards or so, but without either the power or the accuracy required to beat David Raya.
20 mins: Any world in which that is onside is a horrible, unjust, miserable world.
18 mins: Arsenal have a goal disallowed! Martinelli is miles offside when the ball is played through to him, but it deflects off Maguire and Arsenal have a go at arguing that made it a new phase but the officials are having none of it and VAR is having the weekend off.
17 mins: Timber plays the ball through to Havertz, who seems to have spent most of the match in an offside position, and is there again here.
14 mins: Another Arsenal free-kick, again on the left flank but from a deeper position this time. No offside trap on this occasion, but Gabriel’s header sails wide.
11 mins: Garnacho goes for a sliding tackle on Gabriel, so poorly timed that by the time Gabriel gets anywhere near him he’s basically stopped moving. It doesn’t stop Gabriel, sniffing a yellow card, screaming loudly at what little contact there was before rolling around for a while. Andy Madley absolutely rightly gives just a free kick, and Gabriel instantly hops up again.
11 mins: For the second time already, Bayandir boots a goal kick into touch.
10 mins: Arsenal win a free-kick, from which United catch almost their entire team offside. “How are Arsenal allowed to play in shirts with no readable numbers on their backs?” demands Louise. Their shirts are spectactularly unhelpful, it must be said. They do have numbers on their backs, but only their outlines and on my screen at least they are only visible in close-up.
8 mins: Arsenal are absolutely hogging possession, but United seem to know what they’re doing in defence, starting with putting loads of people in it.
5 mins: A lovely pass from Odegaard to Jesus, running beyond the defence on the right, but the Brazilian’s cross isn’t great, and Bayindir gets an easy, early touch.
3 mins: Much of the first few minutes have been spent with Arsenal trying and failing to navigate a way through a strong United press.
2 mins: Arsenal are in the all-white kit they have worn for their last few third-round fixtures, part of their “no more red” campaign. “No More Red was launched in January 2022 to support our long-standing work to help keep young people safe from knife crime and youth violence,” the club say. “The white shirts will never be sold commercially, and instead are awarded to volunteers who give their time and skills to our charitable partners.”
1 min: Peeeeeeep! United have kicked off!
This game is about to begin, under slate-grey London skies. United will kick off.
A shock! Doncaster Rovers, seventh in League Two, have knocked out Championship struggler Hull on penalties, away from home, after a 1-1 draw.
Spurs take a 2-0 lead, as at the Emirates Stadium the players gather in the tunnel.
Pre-match reading: Ed Aarons wrote a thing about Arsenal’s approach to this season’s FA Cup:
“Gentlemen whose sole ability to build up a good side depends on the payment of heavy and exhorbitant [sic] transfer fees need not apply.”
This summer marks the 100th anniversary of the legendary Herbert Chapman’s appointment by Arsenal after the chairman, Sir Henry Norris, posted an advertisement in the Athletic News as they searched for a new manager. Times may have changed but the message must sound very familiar to Mikel Arteta.
Much more here:
“Can we put the kick off of this back half an hour to watch the spurs penalties?” asks Ian Sargeant on email. Sadly/happily/whatever Tottenham are now beating Tamworth 1-0, courtesy of an extra-time own-goal. Fifteen minutes to go there, John Brewin still typing furiously:
Both teams will have half an eye on a midweek round of Premier League fixtures, and Arsenal on Wednesday’s derby against Tottenham, the third of five successive home games in all competitions. United have an extra day to prepare for the visit of Southampton.
Mikel Arteta says Riccardo Califouri “had a light problem yesterday in training”, hence his absence this afternoon. “We thought about the best possible line-up, and we wanted to try and be better than Manchester United. We have a lot of games, and it is going to be an interesting week. Bearing this in mind, we believe this is the best squad to start.”
John Brewin is watching the ongoing Tamworth v Tottenham tie, now with just a couple of minutes, some stoppage time and potentially extra time to play, and still 0-0!
Ruben Amorim says Amad has been rested after suffering “a small issue during the week”, making this “a good opportunity to see Garnacho start”.
The teams!
Team news is in. United play Altay Bayindir in goal as advertised, and Alejandro Garnacho comes in for Amad Diallo. Arsenal make three changes, with Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Merino and Jorginho coming in and Leandro Trossard, Declan Rice and Thomas Partey stepping out.
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Jorginho, Merino, Odegaard, Jesus, Martinelli, Havertz. Subs: Neto, Tierney, Partey, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Trossard, Sterling, Butler-Oyedeji, Rice.
Manchester United: Bayindir, De Ligt, Maguire, Martinez, Mazroui, Mainoo, Ugarte, Dalot, Fernandes, Garnacho, Hojlund. Subs: Onana, Zirkzee, Malacia, Eriksen, Yoro, Amad, Casemiro, Antony, Collyer.
Referee: Andrew Madley.
Hello world!
This year’s third round has been a strange one. No replays. So few big sides away at smaller ones. Just nine games to play and the greatest upset has involved Brentford losing to a team one division below them. No2 on that list is, what, Cardiff beating Sunderland in a half-empty ground? A free draw is one of the greatest features of this great competition, but sometimes it produces a right bunch of duffers.
So a game between two genuine giants, albeit giants who played each other last month and will play each other again in early March, feels like the king pole in a circus tent, holding the whole thing up. Let’s hope it’s a good one, then.
Last week Manchester United, 20 times league champions, played (and, as you may remember, dramatically drew with) the team at No2 in the all-time-title list, Liverpool with 19. This week United, 13 times FA Cup champions, play the team at No1 in this all-time-title list, Arsenal with 14. They do so wanting to top up their players’ dwindling reserves of winningfeeling. “The feeling of winning, that feeling gives you so much confidence. If you win one thing you will believe you can win more,” Ruben Amorim said on Friday. “That feeling is addictive; you feel it and it’s really easy to follow that to try to win it again. I think it is important for the confidence of the players.”
Arsenal haven’t experienced winningfeeling since 2020, the last time they lifted this or indeed any trophy, and the only member of the current squad who played that day is Kieran Tierney. “I don’t expect to get credit [for that win],” Mikel Arteta said this week. “I expect to get judged on what we do on the day. And what has happened in the past, in the future, it is not relevant.”
That makes today (and, sure, every other day) judgement day. The gavel is ready to fall. Let’s have at it.