Ainsley Maitland-Niles offered an apology to Arsenal fans as his own man of the match performance wasn’t quite enough to avoid a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford.

Marouane Fellaini’s injury-time header inflicted a sixth away defeat on Arsenal in as many league games since the start of 2018 but unlike the damning losses at Bournemouth, Swansea and Brighton there was cause for optimism in the Arsenal camp.

Arsene Wenger had rested the majority of the side that will take to the field in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final against Atletico Madrid on Thursday, handing a debut to 20-year-old centre-back Konstantinos Mavropanos and starts to Maitland-Niles, Reiss Nelson and Calum Chambers.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan, returning to his former side in his first appearance since returning from a knee injury, cancelled out Paul Pogba’s opener but a solid rearguard were not quite able to hold on when United went route one through Fellaini.

“It is so unfortunate to fight so hard and then to go down so late in the game,” Maitland-Niles said. “Words can't describe how we feel right now and apologies to the fans to let them down late on.

“I love playing centre midfield and to do that for Arsenal at Manchester United in the Premier League is a dream come true.

"I guess it was a bit nerve-racking for the lads without a full squad, but we knew we had to give the manager a proper send-off and do our best."

Maitland-Niles put in a well-rounded performance in his preferred central midfield role, completing 92 per cent of his passes, showing strength in defence and driving into the box with pace and power.

“I’m happy playing in midfield and the boss trusts in me there,” he added. “I guess I delivered.

“He’s like a father figure. He tells you where to improve and gives you a lot of confidence to go and play your game. It’s brilliant having a manager like that.

“He’s been like that for most of the young boys that have played this season. I thank him very much.”