Team selection Manchester United manager
Sir Alex Ferguson picked the same starting XI to play against Arsenal as had beaten
Tottenham Hotspur six days earlier, a side that had only seen three changes from their opening-day win at
West Bromwich Albion. Centre-back
Rio Ferdinand missed the match against Tottenham with a hamstring injury, but had returned to training ahead of the Arsenal game; however, he was only deemed fit enough for a place on the bench against Arsenal, and with defensive partner
Nemanja Vidić also out with a calf problem,
Danny Welbeck started alongside
Wayne Rooney in attack. Arsenal went into the match with more selection issues, having had a player sent off in each of their first two games of the season, which meant
Gervinho and
Emmanuel Frimpong were ineligible to play, as was
Alex Song, who had been charged with violent conduct and was serving a three-game suspension for a stamp on
Newcastle United's
Joey Barton on the opening day of the season. United opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, when Welbeck beat Djourou to a scooped pass from
Anderson and headed the ball past Szczęsny. A minute later, Traoré could only clear a cross from Rooney as far as
Ashley Young, who controlled the ball, shifted it onto his right foot and curled a shot into the top corner to score his first goal for Manchester United since signing from
Aston Villa that summer. In the 35th minute, Welbeck suffered a hamstring injury and was substituted by Hernández. in the 80th minute with a penalty kick awarded for a foul by Walcott on Evra. Young made it 8–2 in injury time at the end of the game with a curling shot from just inside the penalty area on the left-hand side.
Details Statistics scored a hat-trick. ==Aftermath==