Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans sum up Man Utd’s shortcomings under Glazer rule

Few can argue that United were the superior side, though, and it would be fair for their travelling supporters to question the lack of courage in possession. In the first half, especially, United were so desperate to nullify Arsenal’s attacking threat that they simply passed the ball harmlessly around their own penalty area.

Rarely have statistics been more misleading than they were at half-time. As the two teams trotted down the tunnel, with the score at 1-1, the possession count said that United had enjoyed 55 per cent of the ball, and that they had completed 279 passes to Arsenal’s 212.

On that evidence, one might think that United had dominated. But possession counts for nothing when it is as sterile as this, and those passing numbers were deceptive in the extreme. Rather than attempting to hurt Arsenal, United sat back. Rather than trying to be brave with the ball, they were timid.

To further illustrate the point, consider this: only three of United’s outfield players completed more passes than André Onana. And only four outfielders had more touches than the United goalkeeper, who spent much of the game walking slowly with the ball at his feet. It felt, at times, like United’s strategy was to bore Arsenal and their supporters into submission.

Only in the second half, following the arrival of debutant Rasmus Hojlund, did United begin to repeatedly pose uncomfortable questions of Arsenal’s defence. The 20-year-old is a powerful man and he offered a different option to his team-mates. Long balls stuck to Hojlund and Gabriel Magalhaes, the burly Arsenal centre-back, was visibly troubled by the Dane’s physical strength.

It will take a lot more than a few promising minutes off the bench for Hojlund to justify his £72 million transfer fee, of course, but this was an encouraging start. With better service it might have been him scoring the winner, rather than the expensive acquisition at the other end of the pitch.

Instead, the defining image of the day was Rice throwing himself into the home crowd, while Evans and Maguire complained about refereeing decisions they were never going to get. It might be the first and last time they partner each other at the heart of United’s defence this season, but the sight of it will be forever scorched into the minds of the club’s exhausted fans.