Declan Rice isn't just a midfield colossus - he's a match-winner too! Winners and losers as Arsenal's £105m man causes Man Utd agony

As soon as the final whistle had blown, Arsenal’s stadium DJ pressed play on Vanilla Ice’s 'Ice Ice Baby' and the party began in earnest. Gunners fans were already pretty high on their new defensive midfielder, but after his deflected effort secured a vital three points, any remaining doubters were emphatically inducted into the Rice Fan Club.

It wasn’t just his goal that was so impressive on Sunday. Rice oozed class throughout this encounter. He was the rock-solid base that his side used to dominate large spells of this game, and when Arsenal didn’t have the ball he was soon on the hunt to win it back. 

When you consider the shoddy start fellow £100m-plus midfielder Moises Caicedo has endured in west London, that Rice has taken like a duck to water at the Emirates is even more impressive. He is already looking like an extremely sound investment.

You had to feel for United. This was arguably their best performance of the season and a huge improvement on some of their frankly shambolic away displays of last term. But ultimately they had the same result: yet another loss at the home of a top-nine side.

Erik ten Hag's team picked up just one point away to the top nine sides last season, losing to Arsenal, Brighton, Newcastle and Aston Villa (in addition to relegation-fighting West Ham) while getting hammered by Liverpool, Brentford and Manchester City. And they have made another ominous start to the season on the road, losing to Tottenham and now Arsenal.

This was a much better effort than their dismal defeat to Spurs, but the manner of this loss is only going to increase their mental block every time they head off on an away trip. The good news is that their next away game is against Burnley, who have no points from their three matches - all at home - so far.

Gabriel Magalhaes - who did not miss a single Premier League match last season - has been the victim of Mikel Arteta’s tactical experiments in recent weeks, and the defender would’ve had the Gunners’ boss recent comments ringing in his ears when he was restored to the starting line-up here. 

“I think he understands the reason [for not starting], whether he agrees or not, that’s something different. But the best way to do it is when you play, just tell me how blind I’m wrong, I am,” Arteta said. 

The centre-back responded to this challenge emphatically against United, scarcely putting a foot wrong at the back and keeping the ball nicely. Arteta is always looking for the next innovation, but the return of his trusted back four proved that the familiar can sometimes be best. Gabriel’s challenge now is to keep his place when Thomas Partey returns to the fray.

The debate surrounding Havertz’s immediate future in the Arsenal first-team had reached fever pitch in the days leading up to kick-off. In the end, an untimely injury to Partey likely saved him his place in midfield on Sunday - but on the evidence of his performance against United, he might not last too much longer.

After floating on the periphery of the action in the opening exchanges, the German’s big moment fell to him on a plate. A diabolical clearance from Diogo Dalot sat the ball up nicely for Havertz, but in a moment of pure farce, he air-kicked it and Lisandro Martinez was able to clear.

The circus continued soon after when Havertz lost possession cheaply in midfield. A few flashes of black and white later and the ball was nestling in the back of the net. Havertz’s face after Marcus Rashford’s effort flew past Aaron Ramsdale told the story of a player who knows he’s already under serious pressure just a few weeks into his ‘fresh start’.

He thought he might have redeemed himself somewhat when he won a penalty just before the hour mark, but Havertz’s miserable day at the office was capped off when VAR intervened and overturned Anthony Taylor’s original decision.

It wasn't exactly the dream debut, ending in a crushing defeat, but in his 23 minutes on the pitch plus added time, Rasmus Hojlund transformed United's attacking play. And he was a world apart from the weak, slow and practically anonymous Anthony Martial.

The Danish striker immediately showed his remarkable strength when he came on, barging into Arsenal defenders in pursuit of the ball and throwing his weight around. In his short time on the pitch, he could have won a penalty against Gabriel and helped set up what United thought was the winning goal, playing a delightful flick which allowed Casemiro to release Alejandro Garnacho, who was fractionally offside and denied by VAR.

Hojlund played with hunger and purpose and his arrival is also excellent news for Rashford, who looked far more comfortable on the left of the attack rather than through the middle. Hojlund's return to fitness means he is assured of his preferred role and the Dane's hold-up play will also help the England forward create more chances.

United already had a long list of stricken players before kick-off, but by the end of the match they had a starting XI of injuries. New signing Mason Mount was already out until after the international break, as were Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia. It then emerged that Scott McTominay was also injured and not included in the squad, while Jadon Sancho, even though technically fit, was not selected by Ten Hag due to poor performances in training.

Ten Hag's side could now be without Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof for some time after both came off in the second half, leaving the visitors with their fourth and fifth choice centre-backs on the pitch: Harry Maguire, who they wanted to sell over the summer, and 35-year-old Jonny Evans, who was relegated last season with Leicester.

It is a good thing that United have two weeks without matches due to the international break, as their squad now looks like the walking wounded. Injuries are part and parcel of every season, but is a huge concern that United have so many fitness problems less than one month into the new campaign. And they have only been playing once a week, which is about to change due to the start of the Champions League and Carabao Cup.