Cunha's winner for Man United against Arsenal blows Premier League race wide open

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Matheus Cunha blew the Premier League title race wide open with a stunning winner as Manchester United beat Arsenal 3-2 on Sunday.

The Brazil international curled a long-range shot past goalkeeper David Raya in the 87th minute to decide a thrilling game at the Emirates Stadium that leaves Arsenal just four points clear of Manchester City and Aston Villa at the top of the standings.

Cunha said it was “100%” his best moment since joining United last summer.

“These are the kind of games we dream to play in,” he told Sky Sports. “The games that we watch on television and we want to be part of.”

United is up to fourth after back-to-back wins under head coach Michael Carrick, who is increasingly strengthening his case to be given the job on a long-term basis, having beaten City last week.

“I’m enjoying it. It’s a fantastic position to be in," Carrick said. “What happens next? I’m not going to be answering it every week. I’m enjoying it and I’ll continue to do what I can.”

Two games in, Carrick has beaten the top two in England's top flight.

“He's been brilliant with us. He's brought a fresh energy and the group has really galvanized,” said United defender Harry Maguire. “Two tough games and everyone probably thinks we are going to come away with not many points. But to win both is magnificent.”

For Arsenal it's three games without a win in the league to give hope to its title rivals. This was its first home loss this season and came despite taking the lead in the 29th through Lisandro Martinez's own-goal when trying to block Martin Odegaard's shot.

If that was a gift, so was United’s equalizer in the 37th. Martin Zubimendi’s loose pass played Bryan Mbeumo through on goal and the Cameroon forward rounded Raya to fire into the empty net. It was his second goal in as many games since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, having also scored against City last week.

Patrick Dorgu was also on the score sheet against City and he crashed in a spectacular long-ranger off the underside of the bar five minutes into the second half to put United in front.

Mikel Merino looked to have salvaged at least a draw for Arsenal when he bundled in an equalizer in the 84th until Cunha’s outrageous winner.

“The performance wasn’t good enough and we should have done better. Now it is time to stick together more and to keep working and bounce back,” said Arsenal captain Odegaard.

Carrick is only contracted until the end of the season while United weighs up its long-term plans. But he could put himself into contention for a longer deal if he carries on like this.

Wins against City and Arsenal have put United in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League. And the thrilling performances have brought smiles back to the faces of fans.

“I give a lot of credit to the staff and the players, in terms of what they have invested and the way they have bought into it,” Carrick said. “It is a really collective feeling and it’s great when it comes together and everyone is in it.

“We said two weeks ago when we came in that we make every decision for the greater good for the football club. My job is to keep improving the team and not getting carried away with two massive results.”

Carrick previously took temporary charge of United for three games when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was fired in 2021.

He is unbeaten over his two spells - winning four of his five games - including two victories against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, with both ending 3-2.

Arsenal remains at the top and in contention for a clean sweep of trophies.

More dropped points, however, raise fresh questions about Arteta’s team, having finished runner-up three years running.

Arsenal has picked up just two points from a possible nine and despite slips from City and Aston Villa in recent weeks, it holds only a slender lead.

“If you want to win, you have to go through those moments,” said Arteta. “The margins are very small and we made them even smaller in the manner we did certain things. Now it is time to react and see what we are made of.

“We want to play with those demands and we know that today we were not at our level and we paid the price.”

Aston Villa kept up its unlikely title challenge with a 2-0 win against Newcastle.

Emiliano Buendia and Ollie Watkins scored in each half at St. James' Park to move third-place Villa level on points with Manchester City in second on 46 points and four behind Arsenal.

Buendia fired Villa ahead with a dipping shot from outside of the area in the 19th minute and Watkins doubled the lead in the 88th.

Villa has not won the title since 1981 and seven years ago was playing in the second-tier Championship. But under coach Unai Emery, the Midlands club has been transformed.

And it is firmly in the race for the title after its 13th win in its last 16 league games. City is ahead of Villa on goal difference after a 2-0 win against last-place Wolves on Saturday.

Chelsea is also going in the right direction under new coach Liam Rosenior. Goals from Estevao, Joao Pedro and Enzo Fernandez sealed a 3-1 win at Crystal Palace.

Rosenior has won four of his five games in charge in all competitions, with two of those coming in the league.

At the bottom of the standings Nottingham Forest picked up a crucial 2-0 win at Brentford to reopen a five-point gap to the relegation zone.

West Ham's 3-1 win against Sunderland on Saturday saw the London club move to within two points of 17th-place Forest. But an unlikely win for Forest at high-flying Brentford boosted its survival chances.

Igor Jesus and Taiwo Awoniyi got the goals in each half for Sean Dyche's team.

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Manchester United's Matheus Cunha scores their side's third goal of the game during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Manchester United in London, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Arsenal's manager Mikel Arteta reacts on the touchline during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Manchester United in London, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Manchester United's Matheus Cunha celebrates scoring their side's third goal of the game during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Manchester United in London, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Arsenal's manager Mikel Arteta stands on the touchline during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Manchester United in London, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Manchester United's head coach Michael Carrick gestures as he stands on the touchline during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Manchester United in London, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Manchester United's Bryan Mbeumo takes the ball around Arsenal's goalkeeper David Raya to score his side's first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Manchester United in London, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Manchester United's Patrick Dorgu, left, celebrates scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Manchester United in London, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Nottingham Forest's Igor Jesus scores their side's first goal of the game during their English Premier League soccer match against Brentford in London, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)

Chelsea's Estevao celebrates scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Chelsea in London, Sunday Jan. 25, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Aston Villa's Ian Maatsen, right, is tackled by Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope during their English Premier League soccer match in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez, right, celebrates scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Chelsea in London, Sunday Jan. 25, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Aston Villa's Emi Buendia, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring their side's first goal during their English Premier League soccer match against Newcastle United in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

A massive winter storm dumped sleet, freezing rain and snow across much of the U.S. on Sunday, bringing subzero temperatures and paralyzing air and road traffic. Tree branches and power lines snapped under the weight of ice, and hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the Southeast were left without electricity.

The ice and snowfall were expected to continue into Monday in much of the country, followed by very low temperatures, which could cause “dangerous travel and infrastructure impacts” to linger for several days, the National Weather Service said.

Heavy snow was forecast from the Ohio Valley to the Northeast, while “catastrophic ice accumulation” threatened from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.

“It is a unique storm in the sense that it is so widespread,” weather service meteorologist Allison Santorelli said in a phone interview. “It was affecting areas all the way from New Mexico, Texas, all the way into New England, so we’re talking like a 2,000-mile spread.”

President Donald Trump has approved emergency declarations for at least a dozen states by Saturday. The Federal Emergency Management Agency pre-positioned commodities, staff and search and rescue teams in numerous states, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state was bracing for the longest cold stretch and highest snow totals it has seen in years. Communities near the Canadian border have already seen record-breaking subzero temperatures, with Watertown registering minus 34 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 37 degrees Celsius) and Copenhagen minus 49 F (minus 45 C), she said.

“An Arctic siege has taken over our state,” Hochul said. “It is brutal, it is bone chilling and it is dangerous.”

In Corinth, Mississippi, where power outages were widespread, Caterpillar told employees at its remanufacturing site to stay home Monday and Tuesday.

“May God have mercy on Corinth, MS! ... The sound of the trees snapping, exploding & falling through the night have been unnerving to say the least,” resident Kathy Ragan wrote on Facebook.

In Clarksdale, Mississippi, Sanford Johnson’s family still had power Sunday while nearby towns had outages. Enough snow and sleet fell that few motorists were out, he said.

“I had to break it to my youngest daughter that the play date she scheduled likely won’t happen today. We have no plans on driving,” Johnson said.

On the east side of Nashville, Jami Joe, 41, had power Sunday afternoon but she feared the juice might not last long as ice-heavy limbs from mature oak and pecan trees continued to crash around her house. “It’s only a matter of time if a limb strikes a power line,” she predicted.

In Little Rock, Arkansas, officials say the weight of accumulated snow and sleet likely caused the collapse of an awning onto several houseboats. Six people were rescued and 22 were evacuated, Pulaski County officials said.

Robert Williams, a porter at a residential building in Queens, said the snow plow he was using broke down just as he was beginning to clear the sidewalks early this morning. He and a co-worker have instead had to go out nearly every hour with shovels and salt to clear a path around the building, which takes up the entire block.

“No matter the elements, we still have to put on our big boy shoes and come out here and do what we have to do,” Williams said.

As of Sunday morning, about 213 million people were under some sort of winter weather warning, Santorelli said. Hundreds of thousands of customers were without power according to poweroutage.us, with Tennessee and Mississippi hit especially hard.

Some 11,500 flights were canceled Sunday and more than 16,000 delayed, according to the flight tracker flightaware.com. Airports in Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, North Carolina, New York and New Jersey were hit especially hard.

Even once the ice and snow stop falling, the danger will continue, Santorelli warned.

“Behind the storm it’s just going to get bitterly cold across basically the entirety of the eastern two-thirds of the nation, east of the Rockies,” she said. That means the ice and snow won’t melt as fast, which could hinder some efforts to restore power and other infrastructure.

Along the Gulf Coast, temperatures were balmy Sunday, hitting the high 60s and low 70s, but thermometers were expected to drop into the high 20s and low 30s there by Monday morning. The National Weather Service warned of damaging winds and a slight risk of severe storms and possibly even a brief tornado.

In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at least five people who died were found outside as temperatures plunged Saturday before the snows arrived in earnest, though the cause of their deaths remained under investigation.

He pleaded with New Yorkers to stay inside and off roads: “We want every single New Yorker to make it through this storm.”

Two men died of hypothermia related to the storm in Caddo Parish in Louisiana, according to the state health department.

Across the affected areas, officials announced that school would be canceled or held remotely Monday.

In Oxford, Mississippi, police on Sunday morning used social media to tell residents to stay home as the danger of being outside was too great. Local utility crews were also pulled from their jobs during the overnight hours.

“Due to life-threatening conditions, Oxford Utilities has made the difficult decision to pull our crews off the road for the night,” the utility company posted on Facebook early Sunday. “Trees are actively snapping and falling around our linemen while they are in the bucket trucks."

Tippah Electric Power in Mississippi said there was “catastrophic damage” and that it could be “weeks instead of days” to restore everyone.

The Tennessee Valley Authority provides power to some utilities across the region, and spokesperson Scott Brooks said the bulk power system remains stable but overnight icing had caused power interruptions in north Mississippi, north Alabama, southern middle Tennessee and the Knoxville, Tennessee, area.

Icy roads made travel dangerous in north Georgia, where the Cherokee County Sheriff’s office posted on Facebook, “You know it’s bad when Waffle House is closed!!!” along with a photo of a shuttered restaurant. Whether the chain’s restaurants are open — known as the Waffle House Index — has become an informal way to gauge the severity of weather disasters across the South.

Brumback reported from Atlanta. Walker reported from New York. Kristin Hall and Jonathan Mattise Nashville, Philip Marcelo in New York, Ed White in Detroit and Jeff Martin in Kennesaw, Georgia, contributed reporting.

A person cleans the snow from a car during a snowy day in Chicago, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

A person crosses a street during a snowstorm, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

People wait to cross the street in Times Square during a winter storm, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Icicles form on a mailbox on a neighborhood street as a winter storm moves through Nashville, Tenn,, Sunday, Jan,. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Holly Meyer)

A person pushed a bicycle during a winter storm in Philadelphia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Pedestrians walk and ride their bike as heavy snow falls, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Icicles form on power lines during a winter storm in Nashville, Tenn,, Sunday, Jan,. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Kristin Hall)

A person walks across a street during a winter storm in Philadelphia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

A plow clears snow in front of the U.S. Capitol, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

A person walks across a street during a winter storm in Philadelphia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Workers with Architect of the Capitol shovel snow near the U.S. Capitol, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

A worker shovels snow during a winter storm in Philadelphia, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Two people walk along the National Mall as snow falls, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)