Arsenal reached a historic milestone with a 2-0 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium, marking their fourth consecutive league win over United for the first time.

Goals from Jurrien Timber and William Saliba, both from set pieces, proved crucial in the victory over a resilient United side.

Timber opened the scoring in the 53rd minute, rising above the defense and heading home from Declan Rice’s corner. Saliba added the second goal after taking a deflection from Bukayo Saka’s corner.

Arsenal have previously won four times in a row against United when all competitions are taken into account, including one of those wins in the late 1990s in the Charity Shield. They had never made it in the league alone.

Between 1951 and 1952 and between 1956 and 1958, Manchester United managed four league wins in a row against Arsenal in the old Division One, and five between 1983 and 1985.

Mikel Arteta celebrated the historic success and said: “It’s a very special evening to celebrate 100 games in this incredible stadium against an opponent with so much history.” He praised the team’s success in set pieces and the resilience of the defense as they kept United at bay throughout.

United’s Ruben Amorim acknowledged Arsenal’s superiority from set pieces and admitted: “We need to improve in many areas of our game but we controlled the game.”

They weren’t.

The result saw Arsenal cut Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League to seven points after Newcastle denied them at the crucial moment.