Manchester City 3-1 Manchester United: Hits & Flops from the game

Manchester City defeated Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United by a margin of 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium in what was the first Manchester derby of the season. David Silva opened the scoring for Pep Guardiola’s team whilst Sergio Aguero doubled the lead through a classy finish, minutes into the second half.

United restored some parity by Anthony Martial’s spot-kick but Ilkay Gundogan drilled the final nail in the coffin by scoring after coming off the bench in the final quarter of the game. The German relinquished any hopes of a comeback from Mourinho’s team, who desperately lacked the services of Paul Pogba who was in the stands due to an injury he suffered in the victory against Juventus at Turin a few days ago.

The Frenchman, who often has been crucial to United’s prospects in crucial matches, definitely brings more incisiveness and bite to Mourinho’s midfield. However, that would hardly matter as of now because Guardiola’s side notched a good victory against their cross-town rivals, something that could be a huge morale-booster for the team whilst going into the international break.

Here is the analysis of specific players who endured contrasting fortunes in this match. It would also reflect on the fact that how City arguably won the game in the midfield.

Hit: David Silva

The Spaniard maestro was in sumptuous form in the early stages of the game as he worked around in half spaces and troubled United’s midfield who found it difficult to mark him to some extent.

Silva was always ready to receive a pass and his quick turns and cheeky through balls behind United’s backline made it increasingly difficult for the visitors. Silva often dropped deep to collect the ball, played some lateral passes, and then ran in half spaces.

He collected the deliveries and used his excellent mobility to make his mazy runs and confuse two markers at a time. He ran across the central areas, drifted wide to make low crosses for the wingers at the far post and worked diligently with Fernandinho to recover the ball quickly whenever possible.

His goal was atypical of him moving closer to the goalpost and taking the final shot with precision without making a big fuss from the finish. Silva was definitely a brilliant orchestrator for Guardiola’s side.

Flop: Marcus Rashford

The Mancunian started up front for United and was a crucial plan to the counter-attacking approach that the manager had planned while setting the team up. Rashford has previously performed very well against in these integral matches against the top six and hence was expected to play with composure in this encounter too.

However, the lad was too impatient to have any notable impact throughout the course of the match. Firstly, he couldn’t use his pace to outrun the defenders and was unable to control the ball effectively whenever it was expected from him.

He was too hurried and didn’t hold the ball up well either to bring the wingers into play. Playing as a number nine, it was crucial for the whole team that Rashford uses his strength to dominate City’s centre-back duo.

Unfortunately, he neither used his athletic abilities to outrun his adversaries nor demonstrated the holdup play of a typical centre-forward.

He mistimed or misplaced his passes whenever United had an opportunity to break on a counter-attack and his poor control allowed the opposition to yet again retain the ball and move up towards United’s defensive box.

Hit: Bernardo Silva

While David Silva ran riot through the left flank, Bernardo was right up for the task from the right wing too. He essentially played as a floater from the inner right channel as the Portuguese international moved the ball up and was a constant presence inside the opposition’s box too.

Bernardo was diligent, tenacious and intelligent from a defensive perspective as he hardly allowed United to break free from that wing. Moreover, Anthony Martial had to drop deeper as Bernardo was quickly exchanging passes and constantly making seamless transitions from the midfield to attack.

He was interlinking the play beautifully and perfectly balanced his defensive and offensive duties. The former AS Monaco star had a string of passes up his sleeve. He passed safely to either Fernandinho or Kyle Walker when he was hounded by United’s midfielders.

Then, whenever he had a good amount of space, Bernardo switched the play by making a lobbed pass to Raheem Sterling inside the box. The most typical, yet effective one was the pass which most of the players in Guardiola’s setup use to create goal-scoring opportunities.

That is, to run behind the backline and then swiftly play a lateral ball to the winger on the opposite far post. This way, Bernardo Silva brought creativity, versatility and proper defensive diligence to the overall game.

Flop: Jesse Lingard

Much like Rashford, Jesse Lingard too had an integral role to play in the game. From what it suggested by the first half, United’s players were instructed to press City’s midfielders and hound them off the ball whenever they had an opportunity to do so.

To play in a high-press setup, Lingard’s inclusion was of utmost importance. Not only is the local lad energetic, but his movements and the ability to create space for other forwards is quite unique too. However, he failed to impose his desirable impact on the attacking front.

Lingard’s pace and dribbling abilities are some good reasons to include him in the playing style that was expected from Mourinho’s team today. There were specific instances where the right-winger misplaced the final pass that could have led to a possible counter-attack.

He was too sloppy in possession at times and hence the much-needed delivery was missing from United’s perspective.

Though he contributed fairly at the defensive end, Lingard’s impact was actually missed on the attacking front. Benjamin Mendy’s instinctive tendency to stretch the play as soon as he receives the possession didn’t help Lingard either who was playing catchup with the French international for the majority of the time.

Hit: Fernandinho

To be honest, it was a tossup between Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho for this final spot. However, the Brazilian’s impact was arguably better and more than Aguero if the whole game is taken into perspective.

Though the Argentine scored a thunderous goal, it was Fernandinho who kept things clean despite resorting to the much-criticized tactical fouls on some occasions. The defensive midfielder kept things compact at the heart of the midfield for City as he initiated many passing moves through his ability to pick David Silva on the move.

Fernandinho cut out the passing lanes for United and intercepted any possible ball that could have led to a promising attacking scenario for Mourinho’s team. He was agile, quick and tenacious at the base of the midfield and ensured that the visitors were pushed behind whenever they looked to outrun City’s backline.

Fernandinho was the vital cog who perfectly contributed in both offensive and defensive scenarios. He acted as a screener for the John Stones and Aymeric Laporte by clearing, blocking, intercepting or tackling according to the needs of the situation.

Moreover, he also played the first pass by either incisively finding his man through the centre or spraying the ball out wide to bring the wingers or the fullbacks into play. His performance was the one that kept City balanced on both the fronts and reduced United’s impact going forward too.

Edited by Amar Anand