Manchester United, with both Anthony Elanga and Victor Nilsson Lindelöf in the starting eleven, went on an early cold shower in the hyper-important meeting with Arsenal when the home team's Nuno Tavares stayed ahead and poked in a return after a Bukayo Saka finish already in the third minute.
And it would get worse.
In the 27th minute, Saka was knocked over in United's penalty area and after a while of VAR scrutiny, Arsenal were given a penalty that the 20-year-old Englishman himself managed in the best way and in that situation it looked like it would be a heavy afternoon for United.
Ronaldo reduced
Cristiano Ronaldo, back in United's squad after the family tragedy earlier this week when his newborn son passed away, did his best to change that when he reduced fairly immediately after a nice Nemanja Matic post.
After the goal, he celebrated by pointing up at the sky.
But United never came closer than that, even though they had a great chance to equalize on a penalty in the 57th minute.
Bruno Fernandes, normally the safety himself from the penalty spot, sent the ball into the post.
Barely a quarter of an hour later, Arsenal's Granit Xhaka put 3-1 with a hard shot from distance and after that United could not stand up.
The three-pointer means that Arsenal climbed to the important fourth place in the table, which means games in the Champions League.
Five Tottenham are three points behind with one match less played.
Behind that we find United who now seem to be concentrating on retaining their Europa League place.