{"id":321356,"date":"2025-12-02T21:57:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T21:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/321356\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T21:57:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T21:57:08","slug":"set-piece-mastery-uniteds-secret-weapon-sees-them-match-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/321356\/","title":{"rendered":"Set-piece mastery: United\u2019s secret weapon sees them match Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Manchester United have shown marked improvements this season following a fruitful summer transfer window. The Red Devils changed managers midway through last season, with Ruben Amorim taking over from Erik ten Hag after a tough start to the campaign.<\/p>\n<p>However, the English giants\u2019 struggles showed no signs of ending, with the team finishing 15th in the league table. INEOS resisted the temptation to make another managerial change over the summer, investing wisely in the squad instead, and there have been promising signs of late.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Significant improvements this season<\/p>\n<p>United are seventh in the league table after 13 games this season, with six wins and four defeats to their name so far. They have scored 21 goals, just four fewer than league leaders Arsenal. For context, the Red Devils scored only 44 goals in 38 Premier League games last season.<\/p>\n<p>Premier League Goals Scored after 13 games: 2025\/26 Season<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.premierleague.com\/en\/stats\/top\/clubs?statMetric=goals&amp;season=2025\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Premier League Website;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Premier League Website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>However, <a href=\"https:\/\/thepeoplesperson.com\/tag\/ruben-amorim\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Amorim\u2019s;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Amorim\u2019s<\/a> team have also conceded 20 goals in the league this season, the most among the top ten in the table, so their defending remains a concern. Nevertheless, United\u2019s form in the final third will delight fans, especially since they have matched the Gunners in a particular metric.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Set-piece specialists<\/p>\n<p>According to the club\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manutd.com\/en\/news\/detail\/man-utd-joint-top-for-set-piece-goals-with-arsenal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:website;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">website<\/a>, United have scored the joint-most set-piece goals in the Premier League this season alongside Arsenal. The Gunners\u2019 dominance from dead-ball situations this campaign has received high praise and has been one of their strengths so far.<\/p>\n<p>However, it now appears that the Red Devils have been equally effective from set pieces this season. Amorim\u2019s side have now scored 10 goals from set-plays, including the two against Crystal Palace at the weekend that secured a hard-fought 2-1 win.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>United\u2019s first set piece success this season came against Fulham, when Leny Yoro forced an own goal from Rodrygo Muniz. The Red Devils repeated the feat the following game against Burnley, when Casemiro\u2019s header came off the bar and went in off Josh Cullen.<\/p>\n<p>The Brazilian then found the back of the net from a set piece against Chelsea, while Benjamin Sesko scored his second goal for United from a Diogo Dalot long throw-in against Sunderland. <a href=\"https:\/\/thepeoplesperson.com\/tag\/harry-maguire\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Harry Maguire;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Harry Maguire<\/a> also got on the scoresheet against Liverpool, scoring a thumping winner at Anfield from a set play.<\/p>\n<p>United scored five goals from dead-ball situations in November. <a href=\"https:\/\/thepeoplesperson.com\/tag\/casemiro\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Casemiro;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Casemiro<\/a> and Amad Diallo scored to secure a 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest, before Matthijs de Ligt\u2019s late equaliser ensured a point against Tottenham Hotspur.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, 30 November, Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount scored against Palace to help their team sit at the top of this unique table, with Bruno Fernandes setting up both goals. United next face West Ham United at home on Thursday, 4 December, in the Premier League.<\/p>\n<p>Final Thoughts<\/p>\n<p>United\u2019s dominance from set pieces has added another dimension to the team this season and will be an asset for Amorim as he tries to get the team back to their best. The sight of <a href=\"https:\/\/thepeoplesperson.com\/tag\/bruno-fernandes\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Bruno Fernandes;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Bruno Fernandes<\/a> standing over a dead-ball is likely to cause the opposition further worry as the season progresses.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The Red Devils need to finish within the top four this season if they want to attract top talents next summer, and their new \u2018secret weapon\u2019 will certainly help their cause.<\/p>\n<p>Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.easypolls.net\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:online polls;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">online polls<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Peoples Person has been one of the world\u2019s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/peoplesperson.bsky.social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:@peoplesperson.bsky.social;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">@peoplesperson.bsky.social<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United have shown marked improvements this season following a fruitful summer transfer window. The Red Devils changed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[87646,498,18887,18891,26261,49,48,75840,562,27428,84427,59304,87643,142605,107532,51885,1417,2680,62923,23248,6844,574,85773,9686,142604,561,82,63434,16999,2343,23980],"class_list":["post-321356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-amad-diallo","tag-arsenal","tag-benjamin-sesko","tag-bruno-fernandes","tag-burnley","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-casemiro","tag-chelsea","tag-crystal-palace","tag-diogo-dalot","tag-fulham","tag-harry-maguire","tag-josh-cullen","tag-joshua-zirkzee","tag-leny-yoro","tag-liverpool","tag-manchester-united","tag-mason-mount","tag-matthijs-de-ligt","tag-nottingham-forest","tag-premier-league","tag-red-devils","tag-ruben-amorim","tag-set-piece","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-sunderland","tag-tottenham-hotspur","tag-united","tag-west-ham-united"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}