LONDON -- Substitute Joshua Zirkzee struck the winning penalty as Manchester United survived nearly an hour down a man to knock Arsenal out of the FA Cup in a dramatic third-round shootout at Emirates Stadium.
Bruno Fernandes put United ahead seven minutes into the second half with a superbly controlled first-time shot, triggering a furious 20-minute spell in which a flat game suddenly came alive.
But then Diogo Dalot was rightly shown a second yellow card for a late lunge on Mikel Merino and, from the resulting free kick, Arsenal drew level at 1-1. Man United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, deputising for André Onana, could only punch the free kick straight into the air and Gabriel attempted a volley that deflected off Matthijs de Ligt and into the net.
The Gunners were then rampant and had the chance to go ahead when Harry Maguire was adjudged to have brought down Kai Havertz in the box by referee Andrew Madley. United were furious at the decision, believing Havertz went to ground too easily, and a melee ensued in which Maguire, Havertz and Gabriel were all booked. Martin Odegaard stepped up but saw his spot kick brilliantly saved by Bayindir, low to his left.
United held on to force extra time but required a superb clearance from De Ligt to deny Leandro Trossard a tap-in. Zirkzee forced a fine save from Raya moments into the second half of extra time and the two teams had to be separated by penalties.
Havertz capped a miserable afternoon by seeing his poor spot kick stopped by Bayindir while Fernandes, Amad Diallo, Leny Yoro and Lisandro Martínez all scored, giving Zirkzee a moment of redemption after being jeered by his own supporters against Newcastle last month by slotting home the winning spot kick.
FA Cup titleholders United face a home tie against Leicester City in the competition's fourth round.
Amorim can target silverware after rough start with Man United
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim now has something tangible to aim for. United's priority will, of course, be to improve their Premier League position in the coming months, but now there is silverware within reach, no matter how poorly the league campaign goes.
United's FA Cup hopes are boosted further by the knowledge they face Leicester City at home in round four. A reunion with Ruud van Nistelrooy will be emotive, but it represents a winnable tie that would take United one step closer to Wembley and help generate important momentum Amorim needs as he establishes himself at Old Trafford.
By contrast, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has repeatedly said winning trophies is the final step for his Gunners team, yet concerns will grow after this that they cannot get themselves over the line. It was a familiar tale: 26 shots, an expected goals figure of 3.29 yet just three shots on target from open play.
Arsenal's progress under Arteta is undeniable but they will now need to win the Premier League or the Champions League to avoid another trophyless season, barring an improbable Carabao Cup comeback against Newcastle next month. Their last silverware -- the only trophy under Arteta -- came in 2020.
Winning more is the last step and, perhaps as the Gunners are proving, the toughest one. -- James Olley
Manchester United advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup after beating Arsenal on penalties, having played 60 minutes of the game with 10 men.
Jesus injury puts Arsenal under even more January transfer pressure
Sources told ESPN prior to the January transfer window that the club would enter the market only if injuries or an unforeseen opportunity presented itself.
With Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri ruled out for lengthy periods, the Gunners were already under a degree of pressure from supporters to act this month. That feeling will only increase after Gabriel Jesus was stretchered off in the first half on Sunday.
Jesus covered his face with his shirt as he went off with what appeared to be a knee problem, presumably hiding a reaction that suggested he feared the worst. Jesus will be assessed but the initial signs look worrying for a player with a chequered injury history, particularly with knee problems.
Arsenal signed Raheem Sterling on loan from Chelsea on deadline day as cover, but he has barely seen any action, starting five games in all competitions. He finally got a chance here and showed several promising signs without conclusively solving Arsenal's right-wing issue.
Arsenal must now weigh up whether to go with what they've got or look to the transfer market -- and the case for signing a new player looks increasingly irresistible. -- Olley
Zirkzee finds redemption in shootout after struggles since United arrival
It was fitting, maybe, that Man United's decisive fifth penalty was struck by Joshua Zirkzee just two weeks after he was booed off by fans at Old Trafford when he was substituted a half an hour into the Premier League defeat against Newcastle.
The Dutch forward has rarely looked like the striker United were hoping for when he arrived last summer in a deal worth over €40 million ($41m). However, he put in a promising performance on Sunday after he replaced Rasmus Højlund on 81 minutes, and he almost scored in extra time when his deflected shot forced a superb save from David Raya.
That fifth penalty will guarantee at least one memorable moment in his United career, whatever happens from here. "Life has these beautiful things," Amorim told the BBC when asked about Zirkzee. "A few weeks ago, he was suffering with a difficult moment. Now he was like a game-changer for us ... all the players in this team have the opportunity." -- Connor O'Halloran
Arsenal's Havertz caps off miserable day with decisive miss
Kai Havertz's penalty failure summed up his day. He was the biggest culprit in Arsenal's failure, following on from a terrible miss in Tuesday's Carabao Cup semifinal, first-leg home defeat to Newcastle.
The Germany international was guilty of spurning two more golden chances here, the second a staggeringly bad effort when poking the ball over from inside the 6-yard box. His spot kick lacked conviction and provided further evidence that his confidence level has deserted him just when Arsenal need their centre-forward to step up.
Havertz switched to playing as a No. 9 last season organically, a product of Arteta watching his team link-up in training and in games where as he described in April: "A lot of the time players decide where they have to play, and we can have certain ideas, but then you see certain relationships and some things flow."
That flow just isn't there at the moment. Havertz disappeared down the tunnel immediately after then shootout concluded and Arteta has a job on to revive his main forward with Tottenham next up on Wednesday. -- Olley
Bayindir makes for an imperfect hero for Man United in goal
Altay Bayindir's inclusion in goal was one of two changes Manchester United made for Sunday's clash, a show of faith from manager Ruben Amorim after an uneasy spell at the club since joining United in September 2023. Bayindir's last appearance for United -- a 4-3 defeat to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup quarterfinal last month -- saw him beaten directly from a corner by Son Heung-Min.
United fans would have been forgiven for fearing what might play out on Sunday. At the Emirates, though, he proved an unlikely hero.
Admittedly, the Turkish goalkeeper had been partly at fault for Arsenal's first goal when he opted not to catch Gabriel Martinelli's cross into the box, instead feebly punching the ball straight up in the air which Gabriel Magalhães soon fired into the back of the net to level the scores.
Bayindir would yet prove his worth, though. The responsibility fell to him to keep the scores level after Arsenal were (incorrectly) awarded a penalty when the ref decided an outstretched leg from Harry Maguire brought down Havertz. Bayindir proved his doubters wrong, diving superbly to his left to deny Martin Odegaard.
It was a little reminiscent of Peter Schmeichel's infamous penalty stop in the 1999 FA Cup semifinal against Arsenal. That stop, also at 1-1, sent that game to extra time too.
"If you are not playing it doesn't matter. You have to be ready every minute, every second, if you are a Man Utd player you have to be ready always," Bayindir, who was awarded man of the match, told the BBC after the game.
Bayindir wasn't done there. He came to the rescue again soon after by producing an eye-catching stop to tip a Declan Rice header over the bar and the script was written for Bayindir to be the hero again when the game eventually went to penalties.
He guessed the right way to deny Havertz, allowing Zirkzee to set up for United's fifth penalty and send United into the fourth round. -- O'Halloran
Arsenal defender William Saliba gives his immediate reaction after going out of the FA Cup on penalties vs. Manchester United.
A Man United-Arsenal matchup reminiscent of a memorable throwback
Speaking of 1999, there were multiple parallels in this game, albeit if the context could hardly be more different. That famous clash saw United save a penalty at 1-1 as well as be reduced to 10-men (it was Roy Keane in '99 -- this time Diogo Dalot was sent off after a second yellow card for a clumsy sliding challenge).
The Emirates had a throwback feeling in other ways, too. Games between these two sides used to be notorious for boiling over -- think Martin Keown celebrating in Ruud van Nistelrooy's face in 2003, or Keane threatening Patrick Vieira in the tunnel two years later.
Sunday's game was no different. One of United's coaches was booked after Dalot was dismissed, with the two benches chirping at each other.
Tensions erupted even more after Arsenal were awarded the penalty: First, a group of United players protested to referee Andrew Madley, and then the two sets of players clashed. Maguire was in the face of Havertz; Gabriel was shouting at Martinez; Manuel Ugarte seemed to land a kind of headbutt on Havertz.
To top off the throwback feel, there was no VAR to retrospectively review any of it. The Arsenal penalty would surely never have been taken had VAR been in place, and maybe Ugarte would have been sent off.
The game produced 35 fouls by the time the game reached penalties, with the 27 during regulation time the most in this tie in almost six years.
The ending wasn't quite the same as the magic of 1999 -- there would be no dynamic Ryan Giggs run, and United will be doing anything but searching for a treble this season -- but it still ended in a United victory. -- O'Halloran