Arsenal’s preseason friendly against Manchester United took a dramatic turn as tempers flared on and off the pitch.
In the match against Manchester United in New York, Arsenal suffered a 2-0 defeat, but the scoreline was only part of the story.
The tension between the two sides seeped into the crowd, leading to a scuffle amongst the spectators as United forgot the meaning of the word ‘friendly’ on the pitch.
- Arsenal experienced a 2-0 defeat against Manchester United during a preseason friendly at MetLife Stadium.
- The game took a heated turn when Lisandro Martinez’s late challenge on Bukayo Saka ignited a scuffle on the pitch.
- The game’s intense atmosphere spilled into the stands, with fans seen brawling during the match.
A routine preseason friendly was anything but ordinary for Arsenal on Saturday night.
The team suffered a 2-0 defeat against Manchester United but the story was United’s aggressive on-field approach.
While Arsenal’s defeat was noteworthy, what happened on and off the field became the focal point of the evening.
A match of heated exchanges
Arsenal’s Saturday night game at MetLife Stadium was a physical affair, with one side seemingly more determined to leave their mark.
The crowd got more than just a friendly as evidenced when Lisandro Martinez lunged at Bukayo Saka, causing tempers to flare on the pitch. That was just one of a number of poor tackles United players delivered.
The late ‘tackle’, characteristic of the defender’s aggressive style, resulted in a booking for Martinez and he can consider himself fortunate it wasn’t a red.
Arsenal’s captain, Martin Odegaard, swiftly stepped in to defend Saka.
The subsequent intervention of players like Mason Mount, William Saliba, and Luke Shaw ultimately calmed the situation down.
Scuffle in the stands
The tension, however, didn’t stay limited to the pitch.
A scuffle broke out among fans, disrupting the spectators’ section.
Security personnel had to intervene as the situation escalated into fans throwing punches at each other.
Man United fans have started to fight eachotherpic.twitter.com/Mtz5XRIcwd
— Arsenal Timeline (@ArsenalVoom) July 22, 2023
After the game, Mikel Arteta was asked about United’s aggressive approach which had seen him shout ‘it’s a f**king joke’ at the officials as Erik Ten Hag’s players continued to clatter into their Arsenal counterparts.
“They are here to compete and to win, as we are,” Arteta replied before adding, “and that’s the job of the referee to stop it.”
Bukayo Saka, the main target for United players during the game, was not impressed with what had happened.
“It’s obviously tough to take, whether it’s a friendly or not against United,” he said after the game. “We’ll learn from it and you can’t really give two goals away like that against a team like this because then it’s really hard to come back. We just need to learn from it.
“Physically we want to get to a level that we were at last season and then go to another level and keep increasing that. Tactically we need to integrate everyone.
“We need to understand our game plan and how we play and keep progressing in each game so that when we come to the first game we’re ready.”
Next up for Arsenal in their pre-season schedule is the game against Barcelona at 3.30am on Thursday morning.