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United win, Carrick leaves Old Trafford

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Cristiano Ronaldo (r) netted a brace for Manchester United in their 3-2 win over Arsenal.
Camera IconCristiano Ronaldo (r) netted a brace for Manchester United in their 3-2 win over Arsenal. Credit: AP

Cristiano Ronaldo passed the 800-goal mark for club and country, scoring twice as Manchester United beat Arsenal 3-2 in an incident-packed Premier League match at Old Trafford.

Arsenal took the lead in bizarre fashion in the 13th minute when from a corner United keeper David De Gea went down clutching his foot after he was stood on by teammate Fred and Emile Smith Rowe drilled a shot into the unguarded goal from the edge of the box.

As referee Martin Atkinson had not blown his whistle before the ball went into the net and no foul had taken place, the goal stood.

United drew level a minute before the interval through a Bruno Fernandes strike and took the lead in the 52nd minute when Ronaldo converted a low cross from Marcus Rashford for his 800th goal.

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The Gunners struck back quickly through Martin Odegaard but Ronaldo got the winner from the penalty spot after Atkinson went to the pitchside monitor and ruled Fred had been brought down by Odegaard.

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The match began with United fans displaying a tribute banner to former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who was sacked last month.

Michael Carrick took charge of his final match as the club's new interim manager Ralf Rangnic watched the game from the stands.

Carrick later confirmed he was leaving United.

"After a lot of thought and deliberation, I have decided that now is the right time for me to leave the club," Carrick, who was part of Solskjaer's coaching staff, said in a statement on the club's website.

"I want to place on record my thanks to all of the players and a special mention goes to the backroom staff, working long hours with such a great group of people has been a real pleasure and I have made some long-lasting friendships."

Earlier in London, Tottenham Hotspur shook off a difficult week with a confident 2-0 win over Brentford to climb into the top six as new manager Antonio Conte enjoyed a second successive Premier League home victory.

Ben Davies's header deflected off Brentford's Sergi Canos to give the hosts an early lead and Son Heung-min underlined their superiority when he made it 2-0 in the 65th minute.

A week after an embarrassing Europa Conference League group stage defeat at Slovenian minnows NS Mura and four days after a fruitless trip to Burnley for a game that was postponed due to snow, Spurs produced their best 90 minutes under Conte so far.

A high-tempo display against Thomas Frank's team should have brought more goals but it was a satisfactory night for Tottenham even if Harry Kane's league scoring struggles continued.

Spurs have 22 points from 13 games while Brentford, who could have moved above their opponents with a victory in the London derby, now sit in 12th place with 16 points.

"It was a good performance against a dangerous team," Conte said. "I'm happy because I have seen a great commitment and a good passion about the players.

"It's a good reaction (after last week). In a loss you learn a lot but now we have to think about another Premier League game on Sunday (against Norwich City)."

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