REVEALED: Why Arsenal’s friendly game against Man United went into penalties despite the Gunners’ 2-0 defeat

Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal side had suffered a 2-0 defeat to Premier League rivals Manchester United in their fourth pre-season friendly game on Saturday, National Daily can confirm.

Goals from the Red Devils new skipper Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho were enough to hand Erik ten Hag’s side the needed boast as they prepare for the upcoming season.

Meanwhile, the game had entered into penalty shoot-out despite United emerging as winners at full-time.

Now, National Daily gathered from the claim by the Telegraph that it was initially agreed between the two teams to engage in penalty shoot-out as it would be a good opportunity to practise penalties in front of a large crowd.

It is believed that both Erik ten Hag and Mikel Arteta regard the session as part of their pre-season preparations.

Arsenal had previously played out a 1-1 draw against Watford and Numberg on July 8 and July 13 respectively before handing the MLS All-Stars a 5-0 defeat on July 20.

Manchester United on the other hand had recorded more encouraging pre-season results after defeating Leeds United 2-0 on July 12 with another 1-0 victory against Lyon on July 19 before meeting Arsenal on Saturday.