MANCHESTER, United Kingdom (AFP)-Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim said his side can beat anyone in the Premier League despite beginning their season with a frustrating 1-0 defeat to Arsenal.

Riccardo Calafiori scored the only goal at Old Trafford. The Italian defender pounced on a mistake by United’s stand-in goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.

The Red Devils had 22 shots and enjoyed over 60 percent possession.

But an expensively-assembled new £200 million ($271 million) forward line of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and substitute Benjamin Sesko failed to find a way through against the Premier League’s best defence for the past two seasons.

Only four other teams scored fewer than United’s 44 goals in 38 Premier League games last season as the English giants endured their worst campaign for 51 years, finishing 15th in the table.

But Amorim insisted the performance showed tangible signs of progress, even if it was not reflected in the scoreline.

“We need to win games but that was completely different to last season,” said the Portuguese coach.

“We were the better team. In the end we lose the game, but really proud of the performance.

“We proved today we can win any game in the Premier League, against a great team like Arsenal.”