5 Things we learned from Man Cities derby day victory over Man United
Where do I even start with this one? My head might be on Mars as I write this but I’ll try my best to be unbiased for the majority of this piece although it might be hard, the opening of the game was quite even with United actually looking the better side up until the 23rd minute when Phil Foden kicked out at Bruno Fernandes on the ground with the referee issuing the Englishman a red card for violent conduct. You’d think United would kick on for the rest of the half and put Donnarumma’s goal under threat but from the red card to half-time Carrick’s side were absolutely awful and lacked any quality at all in the final third with City actually growing in confidence towards the end of the half, as the second half begun United looked much better with Mainoo hitting the post from a great effort but they still couldn’t create any clear-cut chances to worry the City goal. Then in the 60th minute a Semenyo cross was deflected by Dorgu with the ball falling to Haaland at the back-post who turned home to make it 0-1 to the visitors, the linesman put up his flag deeming the Norwegian offside but after an agonising wait the goal was awarded with Dorgu just keeping Haaland onside. Upon replay you could see that Enzo Fernandez made an attempt for the ball whilst in an offside position which left Haaland free on the back-post but the goal was awarded to the bafflement of just about everyone watching including me, from there however you would expect a response from United but City grew in confidence and their game-management was absolutely brilliant all game with 10-men. Mbeumo did have a chance with the last kick of the game but an excellent save from Donnarumma gave City all three points in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford, a nasty result for United who are on four points from four games to kick-off the season.
A performance of champions from Manchester City? There were a few question marks going into this game surrounding whether or not City could challenge for the title this season under Enzo Marseca but I think they’ve all been answered today, the red card so early on was a huge setback but their response showed character and they actually moved the ball better with 10-men for the rest of the half. Defensively all the eyes were on City after the red card but I thought Gvardiol-Guehi-Dias-Nunes were all brilliant and dealt with everything that was thrown at them in the 90 minutes, in midfield I thought Elliot Anderson was yet again magnificent and covered a ridiculous amount of ground along with getting City out of trouble in possession. He looks to be worth every single penny that City spent on him in the summer, alongside him was Enzo Fernandez who I thought also had a really good game in midfield and was a pest all game to the United players. Then you have the man at the top of the pitch who just can’t help himself when he plays United and yet again got on the scoresheet today to win City the game, I was worried even as the flag went up because Haaland is very rarely offside and even though the goal should have been disallowed it wasn’t because of the Norwegian. Even after his goal his hold-up play was so good and allowed City to move up the pitch along with Iliman Ndiaye who I thought was superb when he came off the bench at half-time for Rayan Cherki, overall although they got lucky with the goal being allowed I thought City were brilliant when they were put down to 10-men and showed that they are more than capable of challenging Arsenal for the league this season.
A disgusting performance from Man United in the derby. I’m going to put the goal aside for now because I thought United were absolutely awful when City were put down to 10-men, I was getting flashbacks to the Everton game at home last season when we were beat 0-1 when Idrissa Gueye was sent off early and we created very little yet again over the 90 minutes. The game plan was quite clear at the start that we would be counter-attacking but once City got the red card something had to change as we dominated possession but it didn’t, you’re looking at the likes of Fernandes, Cunha, Mbeumo and Rashford to come up with some quality to break the City back-line but it just wasn’t there as Donnarumma made two saves the entire game. I thought we improved at the start of the second half but it was clear that City left space out wide for us to cross as we had no threat in the box, even if we did have Sesko on earlier the deliveries from Dorgu and Dalot were going out of play every single time which had me tearing out my hair every time they did it. Of course the goal shouldn’t have counted but I thought we’d respond to the injustice and up the intensity but we got worse and allowed City to build in confidence as the second half went on, I said after the Everton game that the Cunha false-9 experiment had to end and here we are again with the Brazilian stinking up the pitch and lasting 90 minutes for some reason. The same can be said for Mbeumo who yet again was terrible and I’m sitting here wondering what the Carrick’s plan in the attack is? Kobbie Mainoo was the only United player that could leave that pitch with his head held high but he needs help in there and he didn’t get it from Fernandes or Tielemans today, if I speak on the full-backs I might get locked up but to not sign a left and right-back over the summer was suicidal and will cost us so many points this season as it’s done already. Overall I’m so disappointed today not just with the result but with the performance, I expect so much more from these players and Carrick but it does feel like it’s only going one way at the minute. I hope I’m wrong but I need to see a response against Brighton and Fulham next week.
How on Earth was the Haaland goal allowed? I’ve refrained from overly talking about the goal so far but I have to in this fourth point because ultimately it decides the game, so Semenyo’s cross takes a deflection off Dorgu which Enzo Fernandez throws himself at missing the ball but it comes to Haaland to finishes brilliantly at the back-post to put City into the lead. On first glance it looks like Haaland is offside but apparently he’s onside as Dorgu’s foot plays him on but that’s not where the controversy is, as the ball is coming across Enzo Fernandez is miles offside in the middle but quite clearly makes an attempt for the ball which draws Lisandro Martinez in leaving Haaland free on the back-post. Under the laws of the game which state, “ A player will be penalised if they are clearly attempting to play the ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent or making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball,” the Enzo situation quite clearly falls under this law yet the goal was given. I assume the VAR didn’t think Enzo was interfering with the official Premier League Match Centre account saying, “ The VAR also deemed that while in an offside position, Fernandez didn’t play the ball, “ I just don’t understand that verdict under their own laws and it’ll be interesting to see if United seek any sort of apology from the PGMOL not that that would overly matter given the performance. A strange decision to say the least but I guess we should be used to that by now in the Premier League.
What’s up next for these two teams? For Manchester United they have a home tie in the Carabao Cup against Brighton on Wednesday before taking a trip to London to face Fulham on Sunday in their last game before a three week international break, for Manchester City they also play at home in the Carabao Cup on Thursday against Norwich before facing Sunderland back at the Etihad next Sunday. Both teams will be keen to get two wins before a near month long break that takes us to mid-October by the next time club football gets back underway following next week, might not be a bad thing to be honest given the way we’re playing.