'Arsenal weren't playing well' - Ruben Amorim admits frustration over set-piece antics
- Man Utd fell to first defeat under Ruben Amorim in 2-0 loss to Arsenal
- Set-piece strikes from Jurrien Timber and William Saliba proved the difference
- Amorim claims corners "changed the game"
Ruben Amorim admitted his frustration with Arsenal's strength at set-pieces during Manchester United's 2-0 loss in north London on Wednesday night.
The Red Devils kept the Gunners at bay until the 54th minute when Jurrien Timber nodded in from a corner, before William Saliba converted from a similar scenario to secure a third Premier League win on the trot for Mikel Arteta's side, taking them within seven points of leaders Liverpool.
It meant Amorim suffered his first defeat since taking over as United head coach and the 39-year-old highlighted the hosts' ability from dead-ball situations as a deciding factor in the outcome of the match.
He said after the game: "We already knew that it would be a tough game. I think the corners changed the game, the set-pieces. Then we lost the momentum, we tried everything then to control the game again.
"You feel it in the first half, in the environment of the stadium, that we were causing problems. We need to improve in a lot of areas of our game, but we were controlling the game."
United were solid for much of the encounter but struggled to create quality chances against Arsenal's firm rearguard, mustering an xG tally of just 0.22 as Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho and Mason Mount spluttered in attack.
Amorim added: "They [Arsenal] are very good because they have a lot of time working on that [set-pieces].
"Especially on that, they have big players for that, so it is a strategy, and we had two weeks to work on that. We tried to do it but we know every team in the Premier League is suffering with set-pieces. It was a shame because we were not playing very well but also Arsenal was not playing very well.
"You can see it in every occasion that [Bukayo] Saka and [Gabriel] Martinelli has one against one, a lot of times they go outside and cross. They already know if the cross is going well, they can score. If it's a corner, they can score.
"So we have to be better on that situation but like in every area of our game we need time to improve also. But you can see in all Arsenal games every team has a problem with that."
READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP
feed