Having been at Manchester United for over seven years, Diogo Dalot reflected on the responsibilities he feels he has after United’s 3-2 win over Arsenal.
Manchester United struggled to gain a foothold early on as Arsenal imposed themselves, restricting the visitors to brief moments on the ball. The hosts’ dominance was rewarded just before the half-hour mark when Lisandro Martínez inadvertently turned the ball into his own net.
That breakthrough sparked a response from Michael Carrick’s side. Bryan Mbeumo came close to an immediate equaliser but was let down by a heavy touch, before redeeming himself seven minutes later by seizing on a loose back pass from Martin Zubimendi and calmly rounding David Raya to restore parity.
United built on that momentum after the interval and completed the turnaround five minutes into the second half, Patrick Dorgu producing a magnificent strike to put his side in front.
Arsenal believed they had salvaged a point with a scrappy late equaliser from a corner, but substitute Matheus Cunha had the final word. The Brazilian drilled home a superb winner in the 87th minute to seal a dramatic victory for United.
Dalot on his role within the squad
Having been played out of position in Ruben Amorim’s system, often deployed as a left wing-back despite being a natural right-back.
The Portuguese right-back put on a solid display on the right side, and speaking to club media after the game, he touched on his responsibilities when wearing the Manchester United shirt, saying: “You can see that when everything’s tuned in, when everybody‘s with the same energy, when we all want the same thing, we can win it. And I really believe in that.
“I always try to give that message to everybody. Being here for a long time gives me even more responsibility in this moment, and that’s the biggest thing for me. As long as I wear this shirt, I will not hide myself, I will not play the victim.
“We just have to come to the pitch, give everything for the club and all together, we can have moments like this, and hopefully we can start a very good run of games.”
Dalot much improved after formation change
Under Amorim, Dalot’s performances certainly took a downturn, with fan sentiment towards the Portuguese right-back certainly souring this season.
Dalot won the Players’ Player of the Year award for the 2023/24 season as a right-back, and already looks much improved after being restored to his preferred position by Carrick.
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Many would have been glad to see Noussair Mazraoui back with the first team, hoping that the Moroccan would get a starting spot, owing to growing concern from the fan base that Dalot isn’t perhaps good enough to start, but he proved them wrong.
While he didn’t stand out in any way, he put on a very solid display against a strong Arsenal attacking line, and with Mazraoui back in the fold, it will only breed competition between the pair for that starting place, and will hopefully improve the two as United’s push for Champions League football continues.
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