After the warm-up, players from both sides returned to the dressing room to prepare for the upcoming game.

Louis van Gaal reiterated the order to kill before leaving the dressing room with the assistant coach and substitutes.

Carrick, the captain of the game, called the starters together, said a few words, and then led everyone out of the locker room and waited outside the entrance gate.

The Arsenal players were already waiting there and the conditions in the visiting dressing room were very average, so the visiting players didn't like to stay in for long periods of time.

Although the two teams were direct rivals in the Premier League for the first 12 years, with the rise of Chelsea and Manchester City, Arsenal are no longer Manchester United's main enemies, so the relationship between the two sides is not too strained. This can be seen in the easing of the relationship between Arsene Wenger and Ferguson in the latter part of the Ferguson era.

Therefore, the relationship between the players of the two sides is okay, after all, many players are out of the club and may also be teammates of the national team.

In particular, Welbeck, who came through Manchester United's academy, saw his former team-mates come out and came over to say hello.

However, Rashford has found that some of the Arsenal players look at him a little wrong. He was stunned for a moment, and then realized that it must have been his own words outside just now, which reached the ears of the Arsenal players.

Rashford doesn't care, even if it's hello and hello now, when you get to the pitch in a while, don't you have to fight with a bayonet?

It's a game that neither side can afford to lose. If Manchester United loses, this season's league will be completely goodbye to the competition, and even the Champions League place is very likely to be lost; If Arsenal loses, then they can also say goodbye to the title race, because Leicester City, who started earlier in this round, have already won at home to Norwich, temporarily extending the lead to five points; Tottenham, who kicked off at the same time as this game, will not have much of a problem at home against Swansea, who are on the edge of the relegation zone.

As for a draw, it would really be a lose-lose outcome, and no one wants to see it.

………………

The time soon came to 14 o'clock, and under the leadership of the referee on duty, Claessen Pawson, and in the singing of "Glory to the Red Devils", the players of both sides began to enter.

The Theatre of Dreams erupted with deafening cheers and boos, cheering for their favorite home team players and booing the away team players.

After a brief opening ceremony, the game began quickly.

United fielded 4,231 formations, with Marcus Rashford making the lone start, making him the fourth-youngest Premier League starter in United's history, joining Macheda, Filipe Neville and Rafael. In addition, goalkeeper David De Gea returned, but Anthony Martial and Smalling remained absent, with Marcos Rojo, who had just recovered from injury, starting at left-back.

Arsenal also played a 4231 formation, with Giroud coming off the bench for the in-form slump, Welbeck starting against his old club, Theo Walcott breaking forward, Mesut Ozil and Sanchez in midfield, Gabriel returning from injury and Koscielny partnering in central defence.

Carrick, as captain, won the right to pick the side, and Arsenal naturally got the right to kick off.

Before kick-off, the live broadcast camera focused on Marcus Rashford for a long time, and it was self-evident that the 18-year-old was the hope of Manchester United to win this game.

After referee Pawson blew the whistle for the start of the game, Rashford rushed forward quickly to press for the opposition, but it was cleared by a forward pass from the Arsenal player.

Arsenal also created a threat with this big-footed forward pass, as former Manchester United player Welbeck pressed for Herrera and almost won the ball in the penalty area, only to be blocked and then slowed down and De Gea was comfortable to deni. But even so, it still scared the Manchester United defenders into a cold sweat.

The two sides don't know how many games they have played, and they are very familiar with each other, so after the opening, the two sides almost did not go through any temptation, but directly set off an offensive. The two sides come and go, and they are on equal footing.

In the seventh minute, Arsenal made another kill. Schneiderlin's tackle was dodged by Welbeck and after a couple of passes the ball found its way to the feet of Ozil, the brain of Arsenal midfield. Mesut Ozil sent in a superb through-ball and Monreal's shot into the left wing of the box was saved by De Gea.

Manchester United escaped again in the early stages of the campaign.

………………

Perhaps it was because of this blow that the United players were a little discouraged and shy in the next two minutes, while Arsenal were demoralized and played more confidently.

In the 9th minute, Arsenal passed the ball at the back, and after Sanchez in the front field received the ball, he broke through Varela, who was helpless, and hugged Sanchez behind him and received a yellow card.

However, after this yellow card, it may have eased the mood of the Manchester United players, and the situation on the field once again entered a state of balance and stalemate.

In the 13th minute, Blind sent a through ball of more than 30 meters from near the sideline and crossed the Arsenal defence along the touchline. Marcus Rashford received a pass near the touchline and then forced his way through the clearance of Arsenal right-back Bellerin and centre-back Gabriel, who had no choice but to reach out and pull Rashford down.

However, the next moment Gabriel regretted it, because he found that the place where he pulled down Rashford was already inside the penalty line!

Sure enough, referee Pawson's whistle followed suit, then pointed to the penalty spot and gave Gabriel a yellow card.

Gabriel knew it in his own mind and said nothing about the decision, but the rest of the Arsenal players did not do it, arguing around the referee Pawson, saying that Gabriel's foul was outside the penalty line.

Naturally, the Manchester United players did not do it, and followed the crowd, indicating that the referee's decision was accurate, and this was a penalty.

Pawson's attitude was very firm, he was just behind Marcus Rashford and Gabriel, and he could see very clearly that where Gabriel reached out, it was indeed into the box, and it was a clear penalty.

The slow motion shows that the referee's decision is very correct, and where Gabriel stretches out his hand, it has indeed entered the big penalty area, about five centimeters.

Rashford himself was a little confused, he had seen this scene, but he remembered that the place where he was fouled was outside the penalty area, but the place where he fell entered the big penalty area.

But soon Rashford understood what was going on, because his current ability has changed compared to Rashford at this moment in his previous life, mainly speed and dribbling, from the previous 75/84 and 75/78, to 80/86 and 78/81.

Perhaps, it was this increase in speed and dribbling, which allowed me to advance by an extra twenty centimeters before I was fouled, which led to all this change.