Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has described their FA Cup third-round defeat to Manchester United as a “one in a thousand” occurrence. The Gunners lost out in a dramatic penalty shoot-out at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Bruno Fernandes gave United the lead in the 52nd minute before Diogo Dalot saw red nine minutes later.
Gabriel Magalhães equalised almost immediately. But despite playing nearly an hour against 10 men, Arsenal were unable to score again.
Captain Martin Ødegaard missed a penalty 18 minutes from the end of normal time.
The hosts registered 26 shots in total, with Havertz guilty of two bad misses. He was also the only player to fail in the shootout, as Altay Bayindir saved his spot-kick to give Joshua Zirkzee the chance to win the game and set up a fourth-round tie for United at home to Leicester City.
“It’s unbelievable,” Arteta told the BBC.
“Obviously, you measure the performance and what we did in relation to the opposition; you know, you deserve to win the game by a mile.
“But the reality is we are out, and the only thing that’s going to be judged is that, but internally I can’t.
“I love my players. I love our team, and I love how good they are and what they do because, in 1,000 games, you should lose one, and probably it was this one. You have to understand this as well; it’s part of our industry, our game, and we move on because you don’t have time to dwell on it. On Wednesday, we have a massive one.”
