Arsenal news: Opinion – Fan on waiting for ‘revenge’ against Man Utd

For many Arsenal fans, a match with Manchester United is still one of the first games to look out for when the fixtures are released.

It is a rivalry that has produced some of the most iconic moments in the Premier League – Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira’s spat in the tunnel at Highbury, Martin Keown doing his best impression of a bird of prey following Ruud van Nistelrooy’s penalty miss, and no fewer than seven red cards since 1997.

Arsenal fans who grew up with this rivalry through the 2000s and 2010s have suffered. On occasion, the Gunners did get the better of United, but they were also on the end of some truly harrowing defeats. After the 8-2 humiliation at Old Trafford in 2011, young fans were begging their parents to keep them home from school.

Fast forward to 2025 and the opportunity was there for revenge. Arsenal were currently on their longest unbeaten run in this fixture, having not lost to United since September 2022. And there has always been a sense that this particular United side are primed for the type of hiding to put to bed the nightmares from yesteryear. Ruben Amorim described his side as ‘the worst in United’s history’.

Surely it was time for Arsenal, who before the game sat 12 places above their Manchester rivals, to produce a humiliation of their own.

Instead, it was David Raya’s heroics that saved Arsenal’s blushes. Perhaps at fault for his positioning for Bruno Fernandes’ 47th minute free-kick, he more than made up for it with a remarkable double save in the dying seconds to earn the Gunners a draw. Not only was this not the humiliation so many fans were craving, it was nearly quite the opposite.

Despite the challenges Manchester United have faced both on and off the pitch in recent years, Arsenal still cannot seem to dominate them in the way that on paper they should.

There is still an Old Trafford hoodoo, the type that saw Arsenal fail to win there for 12 years until the 1-0 win in 2020.

After Sunday’s disappointing 1-1 draw, the wait for proper revenge goes on.

Find more from Laura Kirk-Francis at the Latte Firm podcast