London — Joshua Zirkzee scored the winning penalty for 10-man Manchester United against Arsenal after their hectic FA Cup third round tie finished 1-1 after extra time at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Arsenal’s Kai Havertz was the only one of the first four penalty takers to miss, denied by a brilliant stop from Altay Bayindir, before Zirkzee stepped up to win the shoot-out 5-3.
After an underwhelming first half, United took the lead in the 52nd minute through Bruno Fernandes’ curling effort from just inside the box after a great run by Alejandro Garnacho.
The game turned on its head 10 minutes later though, as United’s Diogo Dalot — already booked for a wild challenge on Myles Lewis-Skelly — received a second yellow card for a reckless tackle on Mikel Merino.
Two minutes later, Bayindir’s attempted punch fell at the feet of Gabriel, whose shot took a wicked deflection off Matthijs de Ligt and went in to put the Gunners in charge of the tie.
Arsenal could have completed the comeback when they were awarded a questionable penalty after Havertz went down under minimal contact from Harry Maguire. But Bayindir produced a superb save from Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, before the Gunners spurned several chances to score a winner.
United were later drawn to play Leicester City in the fourth round.
Premier League Tottenham Hotspur needed extra time to beat fifth-tier Tamworth, 96 places below them in the English football pyramid, 3-0 in the FA Cup third round.
The game had the makings of a huge upset from the opening whistle as Tamworth more than held their own but the team of part-time players tired in extra time and were unable to secure one of the biggest shocks in the competition’s history.
After a goalless 90 minutes, Nathan Tshikuna’s own goal in the 101st minute at the Lamb Ground put Spurs ahead after Brennan Johnson had fired a low cross into the area.
Substitute Dejan Kulusevski doubled the lead when he latched onto a pass from Son Heung-min to shoot across goalkeeper Jas Singh and Johnson added a late third.
Reuters
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