Arsenal defender William Saliba was ineligible to take penalty in shootout against Manchester United due to little-know rule

Arsenal defender William Saliba was ineligible to take a penalty in the shootout against Manchester United in their third-round FA Cup clash on Sunday (January 12). The Gunners were left frustrated in the tie as they failed to find a winning goal after Diogo Dalot was sent off in the 61st minute of this fixture.

Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring in the 52nd minute, while Gabriel equalized for the north Londoners just 12 minutes later. Despite coming up for a significant chunk of regular time and the entirety of the additional 30 minutes against 10 men, Mikel Arteta's team failed to convert multiple good chances.

As a result, the game was eventually decided on penalties, where Manchester United triumphed 5-3 following a miss from Kai Havertz. Interestingly, the Gunners' French defender Saliba could not form a part of the takers because the FA Rules do not allow for a team to have more shooters than the other.

Due to Dalot's sending-off, the Gunners were required to nominate a player who wouldn't take a spot-kick, which would make it a 10 v 10 contest. Had the shootout carried on beyond the 10th penalty, the order would have reset.

This means that opening takers for both teams, Bruno Fernandes and Martin Odegaard, would have stepped up for the 11th penalty. Saliba's omission seems rather interesting since goalkeeper David Raya was preferred over the 23-year-old centre-back.

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Mikel Arteta reacts to Martin Odegaard's penalty miss in Arsenal v Manchester United

Martin Odegaard

Mikel Arteta praised Martin Odegaard's courage to take his team's first penalty in the shootout after missing from the spot in regular time against Manchester United. Arsenal were given the opportunity to go ahead in the 72nd minute after Kai Havertz was deemed to be fouled in the box.

However, the Gunners captain failed to convert from the spot, with Manchester United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir making a smart save. Despite the miss, it was Odgeaard who stepped for Arsenal's first penalty in the shootout.

Praising the Norway international after the match. Arteta said (via the club's official website):

"The first one that happens, when you want to take responsibility and leadership in a team, it can happen. He missed it. What I loved is that when I asked them, OK, who wants to take it? He was the first one in the sheet because I want to take it. And that's the players that we want."

Odegaard is certainly a key figure who operates in the creative midfield role for Arsenal. He's made 19 appearances across competitions this campaign, bagging a goal and five assists.