Premier League: Manchester City brilliantly overthrows Manchester United and clings to Liverpool

A shock that will have kept all its promises. This Sunday, Manchester City hosted its eternal rival, Manchester United, on the 27th day of the Premier League. In demonstration at Old Trafford during the first leg, the reigning English champion approached this derby with the label of favorite but had to win to maintain the pressure on Liverpool, winner at the wire at Nottingham Forest, for maintain the dream of winning a fourth consecutive title. Reduced by injuries (especially in the defensive sector), the Red Devils made the journey in the shoes of the underdog. Beaten for the tenth time of the season (i.e. their worst record since the 1989-1990 edition) during the previous day, the men of Ten Hag had no room for error in hoping to remain in the race for the European places.

With a dynamic completely opposite to that of its opponent of the day, Manchester City imposed its rhythm from the start. Less than a minute into the game and danger was already lurking near the Onana cages, like this long shot from Foden (1st). The minutes ticked by and the pressure increased on a relatively compact and vigilant MU defense. While Man City seemed to be in control of this derby, their opponent took the advantage after a flash of genius from Rashford. Resisting Walker’s return, Fernandes pivoted and served the Englishman. Launched full axis, Rashford unleashed a terrible strike and crucified Ederson, well helped by the crossbar (0-1, 8th). One knee on the ground, the reigning English champion put his foot back on the ball and increased his incursions into the opposing camp. Despite everything, Man City came up against a vigilant Onana in his area to defeat Foden (15th, 19th). Behind, Rashford missed a golden opportunity to offer his team a second goal by missing his recovery from the right after a counter-attack orchestrated by Fernades (23rd).

Phil Foden, king of the Manchester derby!

Present at the forefront, Rodri exploited a rough recovery from Evans to force Onana to relax (34th). Before the break, Haaland signed the failure of the afternoon by catapulting the ball into the bays of the Etihad Stadium while the goal was wide open to him (45th). Picked cold and unable to get around the Red Devils’ defensive block during the first act, the Skyblues did not give up and set off again to attack the Onana goal. On a one-touch play, Guardiola’s team progressed quickly towards the zone of truth, but the Cameroonian goalkeeper deflected an attempt from Doku which could have turned into an offering for Foden (48th). Attrition, the English champion finally managed to break through United’s wall by relying on Foden. Highly visible since the kick-off, the Englishman stared at the defense and tried his hand at entering the area. With a tense shot, he managed to place the ball in the small net of Onana (1-1, 56th).

The Manchester derby completely restarted, City increased the pressure on a United team struggling to keep the ball. With more precise and numerous combinations, Guardiola’s men camped on the outskirts of the Red Devils’ area. Asphyxiated, United ended up relaxing their vigilance and being punished by Foden. At the end of an exchange with Bernardo Silva, the Skyblues winger infiltrated the area and crossed his shot to mystify Onana (2-1, 80th). Unhappy in the first period, Haaland rectified the situation and also participated in the party by adjusting the Cameroonian from the left (3-1, 90th+1) for his 18th goal in the Premier League. With patience and accuracy, Manchester City managed to reverse the trend to win this derby. With this result, the reigning English champions come back to within one point of Liverpool before their trip to Anfield next week. At the same time, Guardiola’s gang is reassuring themselves on the sidelines of their round of 16 return in the Champions League against Copenhagen. Not having had the weapons to respond to their opponent, Manchester United continued with a second consecutive defeat and wasted one shot in the race for Europe.