Manchester United left it late to stun Manchester City – whose shocking recent form continues – leaving the Etihad with all three points thanks to a late quickfire double from Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo
Both sides were even more desperate for a win this derby day, hoping that victory could course-correct their respective seasons.
a cagey first half and another injury blow
Chances in the opening 20 minutes for both sides were few and far between, with the main talking point being Mason Mount’s forced withdrawal after the 15-minute mark due to an injury. Another massive blow for both United and the player, with his inclusion in today’s squad being a big opportunity for the Englishman.
We had decent possession in and around the City box, but were often too cautious with the final pass, and we didn’t create many chances.
Diallo, who was caught offside 3 or 4 times in the first half alone, had a good chance to put us ahead but dragged his shot wide of Ederson’s post. His blushes were spared as the offside flag went up moments later.
Ten minutes before the end of the first half, City took the lead when, a deflected cross was played into the box, which Gvardiol rose to meet, steering his header into the back of the net to put City ahead going into the second half.
A better second half and late drama
Amorim seemingly lit a fire under our side, as we emerged for the second half with more life; pushing further forward looking for the equaliser.
We had a couple of half chances to score, but Ederson, or the City defence were equal to all our chances.
Fernandes should have levelled things up with 17 minutes to go when he was played in behind by Hojlund, but his chipped effort was poor for his standards, going wide past the post.
Our breakthrough finally came in the 86th minute, when Diallo latched onto a very underhit pass from make-shift left-back Matheus Nunes to Ederson, with Nunes clattering into Diallo in an attempt to recover, and the referee awarding a penalty, which was coolly dispatched by our captain.
Merely 115 seconds later (no really!), Lautaro Martinez picked out Diallo, who took a brilliant first touch to take it away from Ederson, before slotting in from a tight angle to stun the reigning champions.
more set-piece frailty
It feels like a bit of a broken record talking about our set piece problems. While there was a big stroke of luck from the corner, with De Bruyne’s whipped ball in taking a big deflection off of Amad Diallo, we were once again undone from a set-piece. While the deflection would have wrong-footed both Dalot and Hojlund who were marking Gvardiol, one of them should have been able to do enough to put the Croatian off, but instead, was allowed to jump uncontested, and scored with relative ease.
Even offensively, United are poor at corners. There were times when the corner didn’t even beat the man at the front post, and we never looked dangerous at all from corners.
Amad Diallo
What more can be said about the Ivorian. Without a doubt, the 22 year-old has by far been our best player since Amorim has taken over at Old Trafford. After 2 years being out on loan, he was finally given some chances last season, and we saw glimpses of the player Diallo could turn out to be, scoring the winner in United’s dramatic 4-3 win over Liverpool in last season’s FA Cup quarter final. Coming into this season, Diallo wasn’t offered many chances by former boss Ten Hag, but the Ivorian has certainly repaid the faith shown to him by Amorim, looking so comfortable at both right wing-back, and right forward. Every dangerous attack this evening came through Diallo and the youngster has now established himself as one of the first names on the team sheet.
Player Ratings & motm
Andre Onana – 6: A much-needed quiet afternoon for the Cameroonian after some poor displays in recent games. Could do nothing for City’s goal, and tipped a goal-bound Foden effort around the post
Matthijs de Ligt – 7: Shifted to the right side of the back three this game and didn’t put a foot wrong, putting in a solid performance
Harry Maguire – 7: Man-marked Erling Haaland superbly and kept him quiet all game
Lisandro Martinez – 7: Picked out Diallo fantastically for the winner, and was defensively sound throughout, making a couple of vital blocks
Noussair Mazraoui – 6: Played well in the right wing back role, linking up well with Diallo, and did well to limit Jeremy Doku’s attacking threat
Bruno Fernandes – 6 : Started in a deeper role, but moved up when Mount was forced off with an injury. A couple of sloppy passes and missed a great opportunity to level the scores earlier in the game. Kept his nerve from the spot to eventually get his goal
Manuel Ugarte – 7: The Uruguayan was very much up for this gritty derby, always looking to get stuck in, giving away a number of fouls in the process. Could have offered a little more going forward however
Diogo Dalot – 5 Last season’s Players’ Player of the Year has struggled to adapt to his new role at wing-back. Did well to keep Bernardo Silva quiet, but wasn’t marking Gvardiol tight enough for their goal, and was fairly poor offensively
Amad Diallo – 9 & MOTM: No surprise that the Ivorian is man of the match today. He was, by far, United’s most threatening player going forward, and most good things United did came down his right-hand side. Won the penalty to level the score, and got the goal he very much deserved to win the derby
Rasmus Hojlund – 6: Has to take some blame for Gvardiol’s opener, again, not marking tight enough. Did some good hold-up play, and should have had an assist when he set up Fernandes for a chance he should have converted. First-class post-match shithousery to make Kyle Walker look daft.
Mason Mount – 5: Starting ahead of the likes of Rashford and Garnacho today, the Englishman would have been relishing the opportunity to prove his worth in Amorim’s starting XI. However, it wasn’t meant to be for Mount who was forced off with an injury just 15 minutes into the game, having to be consoled by his teammates as he walked off the pitch
Subs:
Kobbie Mainoo – 6: Replaced Mount on the 15 minute mark. Good in possession and had some good defensive contributions
Antony – 6: Didn’t contribute much in his 12 minute cameo at right wing-back, but linked up decently with Diallo
Leny Yoro – 6: Added some energy to the United backline to help us get over the line
Joshua Zirkzee – 5: Injected some energy into the front line, but didn’t offer much more
Viktor Lindelof- N/A: Came on with 2 minutes to go
Looking Forward
United are back in action next Thursday when we travel to north London to face Tottenham Hotspur in the hopes of making it to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, the first of our four remaining games before the turn of the new year.