Gary Neville shocked Mikel Arteta left Arsenal star on bench in Man Utd defeat

Arsenal missed a trick not bringing on Gabriel Martinelli, says Manchester United legend Gary Neville (Picture: Getty)

Gary Neville has questioned Mikel Arteta’s decision to leave Gabriel Martinelli on the substitutes bench for Arsenal’s 3-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United .

Arsenal saw their advantage at the top reduced to just four points as United picked up their second successive win under interim boss Michael Carrick, a week on from a stunning derby victory over Manchester City .

The Premier League leaders had looked to have salvaged a point as Mikel Merino scrambled the ball home from close range with six minutes remaining of normal time at the Emirates.

It came after a spirited fightback from United, in which Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu had scored either side of the break following an earlier own goal from Lisandro Martinez.

But the Red Devils dug deep again and were rewarded for their efforts as second-half substitute Matheus Cunha beat David Raya with a superb 25-yard strike in the 87th minute.

The result – Arsenal’s first home defeat of the campaign – propelled United up to fourth place in the table, one point better off than Chelsea, who won at Crystal Palace earlier in the day.

Mikel Arteta’s Gunners will look to bounce back and tighten their grip on top spot when they return to Premier League action away to Leeds in a week’s time.

A late Cunha winner consigned Arsenal to their first home loss of the season (Picture: Getty)

Arsenal’s lead now stands at just four points (Picture: Getty)

‘They had a warning sign against Liverpool and Liverpool didn’t quite have enough up front, Liverpool had lots of players missing in that game and couldn’t go and hurt them,’ ex-United and England right-back Gary Neville said of Arsenal on his Sky Sports podcast.

‘ Manchester United have got Bryan Mbeumo , they’ve got Amad Diallo , they’ve got Bruno Fernandes , they’ve got Mason Mount , they’ve got Benjamin Sesko , they’ve got Patrick Dorgu.

‘They’ve got players that are really capable of hurting you and they’ve been hurt tonight, Arsenal .’

@metrosportuk Are Man United BACK?! 💥 Manchester United beat Arsenal 3-2 in the Premier League after two unbelievable goals from Patrick Dorgu and Matheus Cunha, and a rare poor performance from the Gunners at the Emirates. #manchesterunited #arsenal #matchreaction #dorgu #carrick ♬ original sound - Metro Sport

Gabriel Jesus was found wanting for the most part at the Emirates (Picture: Getty)

Martin Zubimendi gifted United their equaliser (Picture: Getty)

Arsenal opened the scoring thanks to Martinez's own goal (Picture: Getty)

Mbeumo has shone since returning from AFCON (Picture: Getty)

Dorgu send the away end into raptures with a thunderous effort in the 50th minute (Picture: Getty)

Arteta used all of his substitutions as the hosts searched for a winner – and then an equaliser – in the second half, with Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres, Ben White and Merino all sent on in north London.

But Neville believes Arteta may have given United’s tiring defenders a let-off by leaving Martinelli’s pace and power on the bench for the entirety of the contest.

‘He [Arteta] threw the kitchen sink at it. Well, threw the kitchen sink at it in a way which was… he half threw the kitchen sink at it,’ Neville added.

Martinelli was an unused substitute at the Emirates (Picture: Getty)

‘Mikel Merino came on, Ben White came on. Was Martinelli a sub by the way or am I missing something?! He was, wasn’t he? He was!

‘So I was thinking Martinelli, Madueke, Eze and Gyokeres as the front four. Probably leave Zubimendi on with Rice and just change the front four.

‘That’s taking Bukayo Saka off… anyway, I just thought he would get those three or four really and put the spontaneity and the instinctive play out on the pitch.

United launched a spirited fightback after a Martinez own goal (Picture: Getty)

‘But he still went a little bit sort of… he went for it but he didn’t really go for it if you know what I mean.’

On Arteta’s second-half changes, Neville went on: ‘I don’t think the substitutions helped Arsenal that much.

‘It didn’t add impetus to the game like I thought it would.’

Arsenal were strangely ‘anxious’ against the Red Devils, says Neville (Picture: Getty0

Neville reckons Arsenal’s players will be hurting after dropping points in such a disappointing manner against a team that had won just three matches on the road up until that point.

‘They didn’t do enough. Other than set-pieces and those corners, Arsenal were really, really struggling in open play to break Manchester United down,’ he continued.

‘I think it’ll take a little bit to pick themselves up tonight.’

Zubimendi’s lapse in concentration gifted United an equaliser through Mbeumo (Picture: Getty)

Neville felt Martin Zubimendi’s mistake for Mbeumo’s first-half equaliser ‘summed up’ the ‘level of anxiety’ that was apparent in Arsenal’s squad.

‘I can understand the anxiety a little bit from the supporters in certain parts of games where it’s not going well,’ he explained.

‘But I wouldn’t expect that from Arsenal, being four points clear with the chance to go seven points clear, 1-0 up in the game.

‘They didn’t fall apart, let’s be clear, but they really did cause their own issues.

‘The goal sums it up. The pass from William Saliba into Martin Zubimendi, Zubimendi, being one of the best controlling, composed players in Europe in that position, making a mistake like that.

‘I wouldn’t expect that level of anxiety to come into a team in January. I’d expect it to come maybe in March when you’ve got say 10-12 games to go and people like us are really ramping the pressure up and saying it’s Arsenal’s to lose and things like that.

‘I wouldn’t have expected it come when they’re 1-0 up against Manchester United, who haven’t created much in the game up to that point, in January, I really wouldn’t.’