Mikel Arteta admitted that Bruno Fernandes was ‘smart’ to take advantage of Arsenal’s wall being more than a yard further back than it had to be when he fired Manchester United ahead from a free kick.
Fernandes struck in first-half injury-time with an excellent strike that beat David Raya after Leandro Trossard was booked for fouling Alejandro Garnacho.
It emerged that referee Anthony Taylor had positioned the Arsenal players 11.2 yards away from the ball instead of the regulation 10 yards, and Fernandes used the extra distance to get his shot up and over the wall.
‘Bruno was more clever than us,’ said Arteta. ‘He’s been smarter than the ref, that’s okay, they allowed him to do it.
‘He’s done it. It was a goal. Football is for streetsmart players and if he’s done that and capitalised on that, he was more clever than us and the referee.’
Declan Rice, who equalised in the second half, admitted that the Arsenal players could tell they were further away from the ball than required.
Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes (left) scored against Arsenal with a sweet free-kick
Fernandes was able to get his shot over Gabriel and Mikel Merino in Arsenal’s five-man wall
It was later revealed that referee Anthony Taylor had pushed Arsenal’s wall back 11.2 yards
‘It felt like the ball flew over us at a low height,’ said Rice. ‘It did feel far back. Anthony is the ref, he makes that decision.’
United midfielder Christian Eriksen could see the funny side, adding: ‘It helped that the wall was about 15 metres away so it was just perfect for Bruno!
‘You saw how far back they were and it was beneficial for us. We felt relief from the fans in the stadium after the goal.’
Arteta was frustrated that Arsenal dominated the game but were still grateful to Raya for some outstanding saves after gifting United opportunities.
‘How we conceded [chances] in certain moments was not acceptable,’ he added. ‘We opened the gate to lose the game. There was no chance to lose the game and we opened it ourselves. I will defend my players all the time, but in those moments we have to do better.’
Before the match, thousands of United fans protested against the Glazer family and Sir Jim Ratcliffe over their running of the club and plans to raise ticket prices.
Head coach Ruben Amorim said: ‘This club will never die, that is clear. You feel it in the streets. This is a big business and maybe all the fans in this league sometimes feel it is harder to go to the games and pay for tickets.’