Man Utd eclipse Arsenal and Chelsea European record after Fernandes’ late show

Manchester United were able to surpass Arsenal and Chelsea to claim a European record statistic thanks to Bruno Fernandes' late winner against Rangers.

Ruben Amorim's side had their hopes of moving into an automatic qualification spot in the Europa League group stage backed up by Cyriel Dessers – who thought he had earned the Glasgow outfit a precious point before Fernandes' heroics.

With the Red Devils able to hold on for a 2-1 win, it means they have now scored a winning goal in the 90th minute – including in stoppage time – eight times in major European matches.

This is now an outright record for any English side in Europe, with both Arsenal and Chelsea having scored seven such goals.

United have had a number of close calls in Europe so far, needing an 88th minute winner to beat Viktoria Plzen in their previous match in the competition.

They also survived an almighty scare to beat Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt on matchday five of the Europa League.

However, the win over Rangers moves them up to fourth in the table, improving their chances of automatic progression to the last 16.

They still need a win from their final group stage match – which involves a trip to Romania to face Bucharest-based FCSB.

The unusual statistic comes after Manchester United fans rushed to social media during the match against Rangers after noticing a common theme regarding the team's corner kicks.

Using X, formerly Twitter, supporters were quick to observe how the Red Devils appeared to be following set-piece routines used by Arsenal to great success.

Reacting to the repeated sequence used by Ruben Amorim's men, one fan said: 'This is exactly what Arsenal are doing at every corner and more.'

Another commented: 'United Copying Arsenal Corners Word for Word'.

A third added: 'It's literally what Arsenal do every game. Elbows out of physicality by Corners. '

Meanwhile, other users were furious at the decision to rule out Matthijs de Ligt's 23rd minute header, with officials citing an error in his fellow centre-back Leny Yoro's box.

In an attempt to appeal to opposition fans, one Arsenal supporter gloated: 'Man United copied Arsenal's corner tactics and scored but the goal was disallowed by Var'.

A similar message read: 'Everyone complained about Arsenal's corners. Now they're all copying our routines.

“There's absolutely nothing wrong with that goal, though.”

Reacting to a clip of the incident, another united supporter commented: 'How is this a mistake when Arsenal scored every week with corners by throwing their arms and bodies into players in the corner.'

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