Match Report: Manchester City 3-1 Manchester United

A Phil Foden brace and a late Erling Haaland goal deal Manchester United a huge blow in the race for the top four. The Reds were beaten on Derby day after taking an early lead through Marcus Rashord.
Many predicted a fast and dominant start from the home side, and that’s exactly how what came to pass. United were forced into a defensive shape on the edge of their box straight away, and City won two corners within the first two minutes.
For all of City’s dominance in the opening exchanges, it was the Reds who drew first blood. Andre Onana played a perfect pass 70 yards up the pitch to launch a United counterattack. Bruno Fernandes latched onto the ball and showed great composure to roll the ball into an oncoming Rashford, who struck the ball as pure as possible from 25 yards out to beat a helpless Ederson, who watched the ball strike the crossbar then the back of his net. The shot was recorded at an impressive speed of 72mph. After a season of strong critics, Rashford silenced his haters, and the Etihad, with arguably the best goal of his career.
United ‘poked the bear’ with the early goal, as the hosts attacked with even more intent to get themselves back on even terms. For all of the possession that City owned, they could not fashion a goal, however, they did come close through Foden on a couple of occasions, and Rodri’s volley, but Onana was equal to them each time.
City bombarded the United box with constant crosses and passes into the box, but again Onana came out on top each time. His teammates helped by heroically throwing their bodies in the way to make important blocks and interceptions. United showed great unity in defence, much to the frustration of City
The last moment of significance of the first half was a moment to forget for Erling Haaland. Usually, his bread and butter, Haaland missed the easiest of opportunities from point-blank range. Foden set up the chance with a cushioned header. All the striker had to do was tap it into the net, but somehow he managed to blaze it over the bar. It looked harder to miss.
United rode their luck into halftime, taking with them a hard-fought 1-0 lead, that not many were suspecting. Rashford’s goal was United’s only shot on target of the half.
The start of the second half was the same story as most of the first. City dominated the ball, and United camped on the edge of their box. United continued to do enough to keep Haaland and co out, but the pressure remained constant as City continued to knock on the door.
Eventually in the 56th minute, what looked inevitable happened. City equalised through a fantastic curved effort into Onana’s net. City were back into the game, and now odds on favourites to grab a winner with so much of the half remaining.
United tried to fight back with some good spells of possession particularly on their right side, but not to many people’s surprise, City saw most of the ball and continued to come forward in pursuit of finding the winner.
Accusations of a foul were pointed towards Ederson in the 78th minute, as he went in for a tackle with Garnacho inside the City box. It was a 50/50 and in the opinion of the referee, the Goalkeeper got the ball first. No penalty was the final call after a VAR call, much to the frustration of Manchester United.
They say “Lightning doesn’t strike twice”, but Foden certainly does, as he scored again in the 80th minute to make it 2-1 in a second-half turnaround. The one-two performed with Alvarez proved to be to intricate for Casemiro to keep up with, as they bypassed him and Foden took advantage of that to fire the ball low and hard into the bottom right corner of the net. Onana managed to get his fingertips to it, but the venom on the ball meant his hand wasn’t enough to tip the ball wide.
United looked defeated with 10 minutes to play, and they made two substitutions. Forson replaced Garnacho, and Mainoo swapped with Amrabat.
It was Amrabat who was at fault for the final goal of the game. In one of his first touches of the match, he ran into Rodri when trying to get the ball under control. City’s midfielder dispossessed the Moroccan and played a pass into Haaland. Of course, Haaland was not going to miss this time. He grabbed his customary goal by expertly slotting the ball into the bottom left corner. The game was wrapped up.
Eight minutes of added time were announced by the fourth official, but in reality, there was still no hope for United to get back into this one. City saw the game out professionally by passing the ball around and making United chase them. The ole’s were being sung around the Etihad with every successful pass only adding to United’s embarrassment.
De Bruyne came close with a long-range effort, but the main highlight of injury time was the standing ovation that Phil Foden received when substituted. This was followed shortly by the full-time whistle, which put United out of their misery, and began City’s celebrations.
Man of the match
The scoreline perhaps strikes a daunting resemblance to some of United’s previous displays against the likes of City. However, the performance, in the first half at least, showed signs of a competent plan. Diogo Dalot and Andre Onana were standout players for United.
What’s next?
United look to bounce back in their next match, in a Premier League clash against Everton. After successive League losses, the three points are a necessity for the Reds if they want to end the season in the top four positions.