Sports Desk, Jan 22 (EFE).- Arsenal and Manchester United went up against one another in an action-packed and thrilling contest on Sunday at London's Emirates Stadium, with play shifting back and forth and the score standing at 2-2 for the final half hour, keeping the 60,000-strong home spectators on tenterhooks until Eddie Nketiah received the ball in the 90th minute and sent it into an empty net, unleashing a torrent of jubilation in the stands.

With the win, the "composed and determined" Arsenal - as coach Mikel Arteta said after the match - sit comfortably atop the Premier League table for the first time in some 18 years, with a game in hand and five points ahead of its nearest rival, Manchester City, after that squad defeated Wolverton earlier on Sunday.

Man United fought hard throughout the bulk of the match, as shown by the back-and-forth, the pretty equal periods of dominance between the two clubs and the overall play, but in the final quarter hour it seemed that Arsenal got the advantage over the tiring Red Devils, although things remained quite tense up until the floodgates opened with that final tally.

Marcus Rashford got the visiting Devils on the board first in minute 17 when Luke Shaw snatched the ball from Granit Xhaka and sent it to Bruno Fernandes, who delivered it to Rashford for a blasting shot from outside the area that easily beat Arsenal netminder Aaron Ramsdale.

Arsenal didn't wait long to respond, however, with Xhaka sending a cross to Nketiah, who headed it home for the 1-1, and there the score rested at the break.

After play resumed, however, it was Bukayo Saka on the scene in the 53rd minute to put the Gunners ahead after getting the ball from Takehiro Tomiyasu and sending in a powerful low shot from the left that brushed the post and got by the desperately reaching David De Gea.

Just six minutes later, though, Erik Ten Hag's men evened things up when Lisandro Martinez headed one into the twine.

Nketiah tried once again for the home team minutes later, as did Bukayo Sako, but De Gea was able to defend despite the locals' massively increasing pressure up until the final seconds of regulation time after a centering pass by Oleksandr Zinchenko into the area and a bad shot by Martin Odegaard, whereupon the rebound went to Nketiah who, up alone against De Gea, coolly sent the ball low into the net for the game-winner.

The loss sent Man United down into fourth place, just below Newcastle, but 11 points behind Arsenal.

Lineups:

Arsenal: Aaron Ramsdale; Ben White (Takehiro Tomiyasu, m.46), William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka, Martin Odegaard (Rob Holding, m.93); Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli (Leandro Trossard, m.82) and Edward Nketiah.

Manchester United: David De Gea; Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Raphael Varane (Alejandro Garnacho, m.93), Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw; Christian Eriksen, Scott McTominay; Antony (Fred, m.71), Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Wout Weghorst.

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