In a game packed with drama, United thought they’d won it themselves in the final minutes when Alejandro Garnacho broke free to score but a close VAR offside call denied him his moment.
Instead it was Arsenal’s £105m man who delivered the decisive goal, brilliantly controlling a corner with his chest at the back post before blasting a deflected shot past Andre Onana.
His celebrations into the crowd were an iconic moment, adding another remarkable chapter to this Premier League rivalry.
Moments later Jesus sealed it, breaking away and then stepping inside Diogo Dalot to announce his goal-scoring comeback following an injury lay-off.
Earlier, Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard had come up with an instant response to Marcus Rashford’s breakaway goal, hitting the net 35 seconds after United had opened the scoring in the first half.
Arsenal thought they’d been handed a chance to go in front on the hour mark when Kai Havertz went down in the box and a penalty was awarded. But replays showed it was the German who instigated contact with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and it was overturned by a VAR check.
That capped a personal day to forget for Havertz, who made a hash of an early chance when the goal was at his mercy and then gave away the ball for United to break away for Rashford to score.
But his team-mates would create a comeback in the end – and what a comeback it was.
A thrilling finish to a match which leaves Arsenal with three wins from four and moves Mikel Arteta’s side up to fifth, just two points behind title rivals Manchester City.
As for Manchester United, they are down in 11th, six points behind their neighbours.
It was a cruel finale for them but Erik ten Hag will spend the international break mulling over a six-point return from their opening batch of games which leaves them already playing catch up on the teams they want to challenge.