Man United top-four hopes gone, Rangnick says after Arsenal defeat

Following the 3-1 defeat by Arsenal on Saturday, Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick has said that United’s hopes to finish in the top four have vanished.  

Man United were trashed by the Gunners at Emirates Stadium, a result that left them at sixth position in the Premier League table.

Asked after the defeat if Man United’s hopes of securing a Champions League spot are gone, Rangnick replied, “Pretty sure”.

He said, “For me even before the game it was not very likely but after today’s result it is gone yes.

“There is a lot of work for sure. We knew that before the game. We showed what football we can play. Although we had to deal with the two early goals we still showed the attitude. There is nothing about the attitude of the players we should fault today.”

Despite the fact that his club was losing 2-0 in the first half, Rangnick said he was largely pleased with his team’s effort.

He said, “I think we showed an improved performance but in the end a disappointing result.

“I think we bounced back well from the early goal and had numerous chances in both halves to score more goals.

“I thought the weak part of our performance today was we didn’t defend well inside and around our box. I felt there were three very unlucky VAR decisions.

“For me, the Arsenal third was clearly offside. The second of Cristiano was not offside. We were not very happy with the VAR decisions today. An improved display but a disappointing result.”

At 2-1, Man Utd had a chance to get back into the game but for Bruno Fernandes penalty miss.

“It would have helped us a lot if that had been the equaliser and probably would have changed the whole game,” Rangnick said, but regretted that in the end, his club was “very unlucky.”