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Ruben Amorim claimed his team Manchester United deserved to seal a place in the FA Cup fourth round at Arsenal's expense because they “suffered together”.
Man United played with 10 men for 61 minutes after Diogo Dalot received a second yellow card for a challenge on Mikel Merino.
The visitors rushed to take the game to extra time and then to penalties. The victory follows their 2-0 defeat to the Gunners at the Emirates on December 4 – Amorim's first defeat as United manager.
He said: “We showed a different spirit (compared to our last game against Arsenal), even with 10 men.” We are improving in that aspect. I think we had a lot of difficulties at the beginning of the game controlling the game with the ball. We suffered, not great opportunities, but we suffered running after the ball.
'They (Arsenal) put in new players, they controlled the ball all the time, it was a sacrifice for my players. But we deserved to pass this round because we all suffered together and showed character and that is something very important.
“The players were very tired, but I felt from the first minute that today was our day. I also felt a connection with our fans, our staff. It was a very good day for us in that aspect.
Ruben Amorim praised his Man United stars for showing a 'different spirit' against Arsenal
The Red Devils beat Arsenal on penalties to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup just weeks after losing to the Emirates in the league.
Amorim toasted assistant goalkeeper Altay Bayindir as a “hero” after his performance
'I think that's clear (we are becoming more resilient). I think it's also clear that scoring first helps us suffer. It's like having more strength.”
Commenting on the inspired performance of goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, who made a series of crucial saves, he added: “He's a good guy, he works hard and life has beautiful things.” “A few weeks ago we were going through a difficult time, but now he is like a hero to us.”
Mikel Arteta lamented being knocked out of a competition he won in 2020, his only major silverware at Arsenal.
He said: 'It's unbelievable (we lost). Obviously, when you measure performance and what we did relative to position, you know you deserve to win the game by a mile.
'I love my players. I love our team and I love how good they are and what they do because in 1,000 games you should lose one and it was probably this one.
“The ball has to go into the net and then you have to hit the opponent, that's the reality.”
Another defect was the injury of Gabriel Jesús, who was taken off on a stretcher in the first half.
“There are no updates, but it doesn't look good,” he added. “He was in a lot of pain, he had to be carried out on a stretcher and he doesn't look good.”
