Three Manchester United players could be Man of the Match vs Arsenal, claims Alan Shearer

Alan Shearer has claimed that three Manchester United players could have been awarded Man of the Match following their FA Cup win over Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.

Manchester United secured their place in the FA Cup fourth round after a thrilling penalty shootout victory over Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.

Arsenal started brightly, dominating possession in the early stages. Gabriel Martinelli thought he had given the hosts the lead after 20 minutes, but his goal was ruled out for offside, leaving the Emirates crowd frustrated.

United grew into the game, and their persistence paid off early in the second half. Bruno Fernandes delivered a moment of brilliance, firing Alejandro Garnacho’s pinpoint assist past David Raya to put United ahead.

The game turned on its head with 30 minutes to play. Diogo Dalot received his marching orders after a second yellow card, and Arsenal quickly capitalised as Gabriel Magalhães equalised.

Arsenal then had a chance to seize control when Kai Havertz earned a penalty, but Altay Bayındır produced a stunning save to deny Martin Ødegaard and keep the scores level.

With the match tied after 90 minutes, extra time saw both sides battle for supremacy, but United’s defence held firm against Arsenal’s pressure. A penalty shootout was needed to decide the winner.

United’s penalty takers were flawless, converting all five attempts. Bayındır stepped up as the hero again, saving Havertz’s spot-kick to secure a 5-4 shootout victory and send Manchester United into the FA Cup fourth round.

Three United players could have been Man of the Match

With the fixture being aired live on the BBC in the UK, regular pundit and former Premier League pundit Alan Shearer was handed the honour of picking the Man of the Match award.

With just moments to go before penalties, the 54-year-old chose to hand the award to United goalkeeper Bayındır for his mammoth display in net.

“Altay Bayındır was absolutely outstanding,” Shearer began when asked by fellow pundit Gary Lineker why he chose the Turkish international for the award.

“He holds his nerve, he doesn’t blink first,” he then continued while the post-match panel reviewed footage of his two penalty saves.

However, Shearer then revealed that he was close to giving two other United players the award, with Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire putting on phenomenal displays on Sunday afternoon.

“It was a three-way tie between him and De Ligt and Maguire, who I thought were also superb but just because of his penalty save, I thought I would give it to him [the man of the match award].

“When you get given an opportunity, you have to take it and he took it today.”

Bayındır would have been the Man of the Match regardless of the result, but the fact he was the man who helped send United through to the fourth round after his save for Havertz’s penalty made Shearer’s selection all the sweeter.

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Wednesday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.