Manchester City 1-2 Manchester United: 3 crucial factors which stood out in the Manchester derby

#2 United played some brilliant counter-attacking football

Marcus Rashford

United sat back and absorbed the pressure before launching some vicious counter-attacks on the City defence. Both their goals came off such counter-attacking moves in the first half.

For the first goal, Marcus Rashford cut in from the left flank to enter into the City penalty box, and was tripped by Bernardo Silva. The referee awarded a penalty to United after consulting VAR, and the 22-year-old forward made no mistake in scoring his 13th goal of the season.

Rashford could have scored another goal in the first half itself, but he only succeeded in hitting the woodwork.

The second goal also came off a counter-attacking move, as Anthony Martial and Daniel James played a one-two and then Martial beat Ederson with a clinical shot from the edge of the penalty box. The City defence did not have enough time to re-organize themselves and could not prevent the French striker from scoring his 6th goal of the season.