EPL: Gary Neville stunned by Arteta’s call that played a role in Arsenal’s loss to Manchester United

Former Manchester United defender and football analyst, Gary Neville, has expressed surprise over Mikel Arteta’s tactical choice to leave Gabriel Martinelli out of Arsenal’s starting lineup during their dramatic 3–2 Premier League defeat to Manchester United.

According to Neville, the decision not to begin the match with Martinelli may have been a contributing factor in Arsenal falling short against the Red Devils at the Emirates Stadium.

The result reduced Arsenal’s advantage at the top of the Premier League table to just four points, following Manchester United’s second straight victory under interim manager Michael Carrick.

Arsenal appeared to have rescued a point late on when Mikel Merino finished from close range in the final six minutes of normal time, sending the home crowd into celebration.

However, Manchester United had already mounted a strong response earlier in the game. Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu both found the net — one before the interval and another after the restart — coming after an early own goal by Lisandro Martinez that initially gave Arsenal the advantage.

United continued to press relentlessly, and their persistence paid off late in the match. Second-half substitute Matheus Cunha struck a powerful effort from roughly 25 yards in the 87th minute, beating goalkeeper David Raya and sealing the win for the visitors.

The defeat marked Arsenal’s first home loss of the season and allowed Manchester United to climb to fourth place in the league standings, moving one point ahead of Chelsea.

Arteta’s side will now be eager to respond quickly as they prepare to face Leeds United in the Premier League next week, a fixture that could prove crucial in keeping their title push on track.

Speaking on his Sky Sports podcast, Neville reflected on Arsenal’s recent performances and suggested that warning signs had already appeared in their previous match against Liverpool. He pointed out that Liverpool lacked enough attacking strength in that game to fully capitalize against Arsenal.

Neville noted that Liverpool were missing several key players and were unable to seriously threaten Arsenal, a situation that Manchester United did not replicate.

“Manchester United have Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo, Bruno Fernandes, Mason Mount, Benjamin Sesko, and Patrick Dorgu,” Neville said, emphasizing that United possess attackers capable of causing real damage. “They’ve been hurt tonight, Arsenal.”

During the second half, Arteta made full use of his bench as Arsenal searched first for a winning goal and later for an equalizer. Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres, Ben White, and Merino were all introduced in north London.

Despite the flurry of substitutions, Neville believes Arteta’s choices may have inadvertently eased the task for United’s tiring defense by not deploying Martinelli earlier.

“He used everything he had to try and fix it,” Neville explained, before questioning why Martinelli was not part of the initial attacking setup.

Neville suggested an alternative approach, proposing a more aggressive forward combination involving Martinelli, Madueke, Eze, and Gyokeres, while keeping a midfield trio of Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice. In his view, removing Bukayo Saka and committing fully to fresh attacking options could have added spontaneity and unpredictability.

Neville concluded that while Arteta attempted to chase the game, the approach lacked full commitment.

Reflecting further on the substitutions, Neville stated that he did not feel the changes significantly improved Arsenal’s performance or intensity, adding that the match failed to become as dynamic as he had expected following the second-half adjustments.