Manchester United vs Manchester City: Match Report
Manchester United: a team that lacks any form of identity and character took on Manchester City, the most distinctive, controlled, and measured side in the world. Last season, United managed to hold off a 2-1 win at Old Trafford, but their poor start to the season made that seem an almost insurmountable task.
United have been frail at the back this season and that has not been helped by the number of injuries they have sustained. Varane was on the bench yesterday and Ten Hag claimed that was for a tactical reason and that led them to have a back four of Lindelof, Maguire, Evans and Dalot, which did not inspire any United fans.
For the first goal, Hojlund held onto Rodri who went down and stirred up a fuss, eventually resulting in a penalty. It was soft and that kind of incident occurs in almost every game and we never see those get given – especially in a goalless derby. It also sets a precedent for those incidents to continue to be given going forward which I'm sure won’t happen. When Haaland took the penalty, even Onana knew he would score, and he did.
One of Man United’s best chances came from a Man City mistake. Phil Foden’s pass back split his two central defenders and Hojlund utilised his searing pace to get there first and charge towards the goal. Stones recovered well and put him off just enough for the striker to take a heavy touch out wide as he approached Ederson in goal.
Rashford drifted into the right flank and swapped with Bruno midway through the first half and he looked dangerous. He came deep and swept a first-time ball directly to McTominay who shielded the ball from Walker and struck a half-volley with tenacity, but it was down the middle of the goal and met by Ederson’s palm. This is where United had the most success, using these long direct balls to try to capitalise on the pace of some of their forwards and the high line of City. Later in the game, Eriksen sent Rashford running for a long direct ball and when in the box he held off from taking his shot until the defender had passed and then lashed it wide. The idea was there, but there has not been enough quality across Man United’s attack this season to turn the ball into the net. McTominay is their top scorer with 3 goals; Rashford, Bruno, Mount, Hojlund and Anthony have combined for 3 goals in 10 games.
Down the other end of the pitch, they are no better, they have conceded 17 goals so far this season and the defending in the box was atrocious from Man United. Moments after the McTominay effort, Grealish fed Bernado on the overlap who had so much space and time in United’s box. Haaland left his marker, Lindelof, for dead and attacked the ball into the back post towering over the Swede, but he was denied his second by an incredibly athletic save by Onana keeping his team in the game before the halftime whistle. Despite his heroics, it was not enough. An almost identical link-up on the left flank between Grealish and Bernardo, just 5 minutes into the second half, resulted in the exact same position. This time as the ball came in, Haaland was unmarked at the back post, Evans went to mark Rodri and it was inevitable that the Premier League’s top scorer was going to get his second. The header was simple to put City 2-0 up. United failed to mark the deadliest finisher in world football inside the box, after conceding an identical situation just before the second half.
There are problems all over the pitch for United – Eriksen starting in midfield is one of them, especially when he doesn’t have the defensive cover that Amrabat or Casemiro provide. When Mount replaced Amrabat, the Red Devils conceded any midfield stability and Man City easily played through them. For the third goal, it all comes from how easy it was for Rodri to run off the back of Eriksen. Rodri shifted the ball onto his left and with that one small movement, he was past Eriksen and allowed to take a shot. The rebound from Onana’s save was pushed into the path of Haaland and he rolled it back across the 6-yard box for Foden to tap it in for a third. The 23-year-old Englishmen reacted quicker than Reguilon and Dalot and this goes to show how poor the defending was in the box for United, with Maguire still static when the ball went in the net.
Credit needs to be issued to Man City, regardless of the legitimacy of the penalty, they would have carved open this united side. Bernado Silva had an incredible game, his off-the-ball movement kept the United defenders second-guessing and dragging them out of position to create space for others. His work on the left off the back of Grealish was slick, they have a great understanding of each other’s games and Grealish produced one of his better performances of recent times. Haaland, who we barely need to cover anymore, was inches away from a hattrick and although he was anonymous for large periods of the game he was there when it mattered. Defensively they were only ever under pressure from those long direct balls and they were few and far between. They were a very disciplined side that created clear passing lanes and had undoubted quality in every position. Each player going forward gives you something else to worry about, Haaland’s deadly finishing, Alvarez’s quality of shooting outside the box, Grealish cutting inside, Bernado and Foden with incredible footwork and it was all too much for Erik Ten Hags United side.
Ending on a positive note for Manchester United, Onana had a very good game. He came under pressure early on but saved everything that he should have and more. Maybe his penalty save vs Copenhagen midweek has given him that boost of confidence he so desperately needed.
