Stockport-born midfielder looks back on his goalscoring debut for Manchester United and why the champagne remains on ice

For almost eight years a bottle of champagne has sat with pride of place in Josh Harrop’s house. The cork will, according to the midfielder, never be popped. Instead it will serve as a reminder of how he lived out his dream of making his Manchester United debut at Old Trafford.

Stockport-born Harrop rose through United’s academy before being given his debut aged 21 by José Mourinho. Playing alongside Wayne Rooney and Paul Pogba, Harrop scored the first in a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace to earn the man-of-the-match award. A new three-year deal was on the table but a desire to play regularly prompted him to move to Preston, leaving that 90 minutes in 2017 as his imprint on United history.

Ruben Amorim parks the bus, Son Heung-min shows he still has some spark and Marc Cucurella fires up Chelsea

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Some observers look at Ruben Amorim and Ange Postecoglou and see the same thing: stubbornness. But there is a big difference between them. With Tottenham, you have no idea what to expect. With Manchester United, you know exactly what to expect. A whole lot of nothing in the first half. Some flickers of fight in the second. Dismal results against middling Premier League teams. Decent ones against teams at the top and the bottom. This was Amorim’s first home game against a “big six” club, but it might as well have been away. He parked the bus. His nominal 3-4-2-1 was actually a 5-4-1. United started with no No 9 and just one real forward, Alejandro Garnacho. It’s three months since any of their strikers scored in the league. Their only goal threat, Bruno Fernandes, has been shunted back to central midfield. Where once they had wingers, now they have full-backs. Even when the bus moves, the handbrake stays on. Tim de Lisle

Match report: Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal

Match report: Tottenham 2-2 Bournemouth

Match report: Liverpool 3-1 Southampton

Match report: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Manchester City

Match report: Chelsea 1-0 Leicester

Match report: Brentford 0-1 Aston Villa

• Arsenal 15 points behind Liverpool with game in hand
• ‘Today the frustration is that we haven’t won’

Mikel Arteta has refused to concede the title race is over, despite Arsenal languishing 15 points behind Liver­pool after a 1-1 draw at ­Manchester United on Sunday.

Arteta’s side have played 28 games, one fewer than Liverpool, but Arne Slot’s team need a maximum of only 16 points from their final nine matches to become champions. Arteta was asked if deep down he believes the Premier League title will again elude Arsenal.

After the pre-match protests about the owners, Amorim saw his wing-backs combine in what could be a taste of things to come

With 53 minutes gone at Old Trafford, Manchester United’s home support was treated for one brief, flickering moment to a glimpse of the Amorim-shaped universe, a vision of what might yet come to pass.

Out of nowhere, on an afternoon that had felt to that point like a competently staged practice event, United’s wing‑backs Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui appeared in a wide pincer, surging towards the Arsenal goal, a living breathing incarnation of the Amorim blueprint. Left wing-back Dalot dug out a cross. Right wing-back Mazraoui counted his strides and placed a measured volley just too close to David Raya.

Ruben Amorim had set the bar low, as he so often has sought to do during his tumultuous four months in charge at Manchester United. “We just need to survive,” the manager said as he assessed what used to be the must-see fixture of the English calendar, wary of a selection crisis that would deprive him of 11 players.

United did more than that and they were so close to cutting through the gloom at Old Trafford, all of the multi-layered problems, with an overdue victory. “Well, at least we’ve got Bruno,” read the cover of the United We Stand fanzine which was on sale outside the stadium. Never a truer sentence.

• March organised before home game against Arsenal
• Ratcliffe and Edward Glazer in attendance at Old Trafford

Several thousand Manchester United fans staged a protest against the Glazers’ and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ownership of the club before the 1-1 Premier League draw at home to Arsenal on Sunday.

Those who took part are unhappy at the direction in which the American family and the billionaire Ineos co-owner are taking the club. United have lost £300m in the past three years, will operate with a severely constricted budget in the summer transfer market and the fans are watching a poor side under the management of Ruben Amorim. With a point United climbed one place to 14th, 21 points behind opponents who not so long ago were close rivals.

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This story reflects the general state of Manchester United.

“I will not have the time Arteta had – I feel that. It’s a different club. So we just need to survive with the players [available] on Sunday. I think it’s a different club – in that aspect, the way Arteta dealt with that is an inspiration for everybody but I will not have the time like Arteta had.”

• Midfielder unhappy with his goal and assist return
• Captain hopes midweek double is a turning point

Martin Ødegaard has admitted he has “not been good enough” this season, particularly in regards to his goals and assists output. The Arsenal captain has pulled no punches in his assessment of a campaign that was undermined by a two-month ankle injury layoff from early September.

Ødegaard was back to his driving and creative best in Arsenal’s 7-1 win at PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League last-16 first leg on Tuesday, scoring two and providing one assist. As he prepares for Sunday’s Premier League visit to Manchester United, he hopes it can mark a turning point.

A Manchester United player of 2025 has even fewer places to hide than his 1990s Liverpool equivalent in this era of social media content

Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be. “In my day” will be offered as advice until the end of time itself. Twas ever thus. Punditry is, by nature, viewed through the prism of the past. Glance into a Premier League press room on match day, the thickened waistlines and/or greying hair of former heroes will be present and correct.

The BBC’s Test Match Special is forever travelling back in time, if not so frequently as when Fred Trueman was part of the team. The self-proclaimed “fastest bloody bowler that ever drew breath” constantly hailed back to the days of Leonard Hutton and the Yorkshire team of the 50s. TMS, despite cricket’s many modernities, has never truly extracted itself from its golden era of EW Swanton and John Arlott.

No new striker, too many injuries, too intense – the supposed fatal flaws in Mikel Arteta’s team ignore their consistent success

One of the problems with sport, imported from heartwarming mid-90s books about Man Feelings and their attendant movie adaptations featuring Colin Farrell looking sad in a hoodie, is the idea that football in particular has something to tell us about life. In many ways this is correct. It’s just that the things football has to tell us are not always good or helpful.

For example, the concept of the zero-sum game. It’s not a zero-sum game. People say this a lot now, often in the context of some reductive and binary argument, the kind of internet shouting match where there can be only one winner, that for one party to succeed it must necessarily be bad for everyone else, without nuance or shared benefits and burdens. Grownups are always insisting that it’s not a zero-sum game.

• Negotiations over extension have not led to agreement
• United open to sale of player valued at about £70m

Kobbie Mainoo is minded to reject the offer of a new contract at Manchester United and seek a move abroad. The midfielder has two years on his deal but the club would be open to selling the England international, who is valued at about £70m, to help their finances.

The Stockport-born academy graduate, 20 in April, joined United aged six and made his debut as a 17-year-old in 2023. Mainoo, who has 10 England caps, has played 60 times for the first team and has been in protracted negotiations over a new deal but no agreement has been found. He has been discussed as a potential Chelsea target but moving to another Premier League club is not currently part of Mainoo’s thinking.

• United manager talking about Arteta’s early Arsenal years
• Amorim: ‘We just need to survive on Sunday’

Ruben Amorim views Mikel Arteta’s rebuild of Arsenal as an inspiration but does not believe he will be granted the same time to reverse Manchester United’s fortunes.

United host Arsenal on Sunday having won once in their past four Premier League games. They are 14th on 33 points, while Arteta’s side are second on 54 and all but into the Champions League quarter-finals after a 7-1 first-leg win at PSV Eindhoven.

Cunha’s ban could reignite relegation battle, Nketiah is full of confidence and Manchester United have lost fear factor

A clear contrast in styles will be visible in a game that could have major ramifications for the Champions League qualification hopes of both Nottingham Forest and Manchester City. No team in the Premier League has averaged less possession than Forest’s 40.1% this season and no team has more of the ball on average than Manchester City (60.4%). So the fact a 59-point chasm between the teams from last season has been completely eroded – Nuno Espírito Santo’s men are actually a point better off than the champions after 27 games – suggests possession is not the footballing essential it once was. City were routine winners at home to Forest in December but beating Nuno’s side at the City Ground is a far sterner challenge. Arsenal and Liverpool are among the sides who have failed to do so in recent months. Dominic Booth

Nottingham Forest v Manchester City, Saturday 12.30pm (all times GMT)

Brighton v Fulham, Saturday 3pm

Crystal Palace v Ipswich Town, Saturday 3pm

Liverpool v Southampton, Saturday 3pm

In the end, two outstretched hands were decisive. The first, from Bruno Fernandes, probably denied Manchester United a victory; the second, from André Onana, definitely denied Real Sociedad one. After a first half low on quality, Manchester United gave themselves a first-leg lead against Real Sociedad when Joshua Zirkee guided a side-footed shot beyond Alex Remiro that had appeared to set them up not just for a win but potentially one big enough to virtually see them through. But an eagle eye and a video replay gave Real a penalty that allowed them to draw level and in the very last minute, they almost added a second.

Ultimately, a 1-1 draw is not a bad result for United to take from a night when they did not always impress, but it will have frustrated them and it offered little evidence of them having overcome their most pressing problems. Instead it revealed some of the flaws, especially in the first half.

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6 min: A free kick for Sociedad out on the right. Kubo curls it in. Dalot heads half-clear. Barrenetxea returns the ball into the mixer from the left. Too long. Kubo tries again from the other side. He can neither get a cross in nor a shot away. United finally clear their lines.

4 min: Garnacho has started the game on the right. Hojlund fills in on the left with a direct dribble and low cross that’s easily cleared, but the run offers United some early hope.

The Real Sociedad and Spain keeper on old teammates, new challenges and how Manchester United inspired him

Sometimes it’s the detail that stays with you. Alex Remiro can’t remember the brand, but he can still see the colour, the way they looked, how much he liked them. “When I was a kid, if you became a goalkeeper it was because you were an Iker Casillas fan, because you were the biggest, or because no one else wanted to do it,” he says. Or because one day in Cascante, Navarre, a friend turns up with a pair of gloves: brand new, grey and very, very cool. “I was like: ‘Hey, let me have a go.’ I went in goal and, well, I never left again.”

Now he is a European champion with Spain; a Copa del Rey winner with Real Sociedad, their first trophy in 34 years, albeit one won in an empty stadium and a year late, a sadness to the celebration they had to have without the fans and with a single family member each; and no one in La Liga has kept more clean sheets this season. And the way he tells it, that’s thanks in part to Manchester United, their opponents on Thursday, and the team who taught la Real a lesson. Literally, he says.

Manchester United, Tottenham and Rangers are among the teams battling for places in the quarter-finals

By WhoScored

Fenerbahce effectively wrapped up their playoff tie against Anderlecht in the first leg, winning 3-0 at home to ease their way into a last-16 meeting with Rangers. The Yellow Canaries are in good form; their 3-0 win over Antalyaspor on Sunday extends their unbeaten run to 18 matches. José Mourinho’s team are particularly strong at home, having won eight of their past nine at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium.

• Manager talks up long-term project for struggling side
• Maguire and Ugarte miss last-16 trip to Real Sociedad

Ruben Amorim said winning the Europa League will not magically resolve Manchester United’s problems. The Portuguese coach, who travelled to Spain with a squad of just 18 players to face Real Sociedad in the last-16 first leg, admitted that silverware would strengthen his position as well as that of the club, but claimed that it was not crucial, leaving the impression that this competition is not a priority.

Amorim also said that he would not change his approach regardless of results, insisting “I am clear” during a press conference which revealed the contradictions between optimism and realism as he continued to manage expectations.

• The 1958 planning anti-Glazer demonstration on Sunday
• Spokesman: ‘The club is facing financial Armageddon’

Manchester United fans have been urged by a supporters’ group to wear black to Sunday’s anti-Glazer protest. The home Premier League match against Arsenal will be preceded by a supporter march to Old Trafford, starting at 3.15pm from the Tollgate pub.

The 1958 fan group hope it “could be one of the largest ever protests” at United, whose supporters have expressed opposition since the Glazer family completed a leveraged takeover in 2005. The group demanded an end to the family’s ownership and asked supporters “to wear black to symbolise how the club is ‘slowly dying’ due to huge debts, mismanagement and fan exploitation”.

Exiting the FA Cup on penalties at home to Fulham is a new low in a season full of them for Ruben Amorim’s side

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What links Jack Robson, Lal Hilditch, Herbert Bamlett and Ruben Amorim?

They’re the only permanent managers in Manchester United history with a career negative goal-difference. Other than Amorim, the other three worked between 1914 and 1931. Sunday’s FA Cup exit against Fulham, admittedly, did not contribute to that. It was possible, even, in the aftermath of a penalty shootout defeat, to argue it had been one of United’s better recent performances. They’ve only lost two of their previous eight games. But it’s also just 3 March and United already have no chance of winning any domestic competition this season.