The most enticing tie of the FA Cup third round was billed as a tale of two coaches, with Ruben Amorim following a similar path to Mikel Arteta in his daunting task of trying to replicate the Spaniard's success in rebuilding Arsenal by making Manchester United into the force they once were. And after an enthralling 120 minutes and a penalty shootout, it was the United boss who came out on top.
Not only are the Red Devils into the next round of the FA Cup they won last year, they have shown in the last week that, despite their many problems, they can mix it with the very best sides. They pulled off an impressive 2-2 draw at runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool seven days ago and really should have nicked all three points. And now, they have gone to the second-best team in the country over the last two seasons and knocked them out of the cup despite playing more than an hour with 10 men.
Diogo Dalot must be hugely grateful to Altay Bayindir for bailing him out for his reckless tackles by making a brilliant penalty save from Martin Odegaard and ensuring the game ended 1-1 after extra-time. The goalkeeper then helped United win the shootout 5-3 by keeping out Kai Havertz's kick to cap the best performance of his overall disappointing United career, while Joshua Zirkzee also made amends for his recent abject displays in a red shirt by scoring the decisive penalty.
Havertz's woeful finishing underlined Arsenal's need to sign a striker by the end of the month, while Alejandro Garnacho made a convincing argument against United selling him in the transfer window. But the man who was left with the biggest questions to answer was Arteta as he stared at a third consecutive disappointing result after drawing with Brighton in the Premier League and losing to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup, edging his side ever closer towards a fifth-consecutive season without winning a trophy.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from the Emirates Stadium...