key events
23 minutes De Bruyne won another corner for City, who in their own unique style, held United to a draw. It was a fascinating game as United were really dangerous in transition.
21 minutes “The hardest thing about being a Manchester United fan in the 6,000 years since Ferguson retired is of course that it used to always be us scoring in injury time and now it’s always someone else (Exhibit A: Liverpool yesterday), ” said Nick Parish. “I confidently predicted that we would still lead 1-0 in the 89th minute. And we still lost.”
Could be worse. Neil Warnock’s Aberdeen led 1-0 at the end of four minutes of stoppage time at St Mirren yesterday, but they still lost 2-1.
19 min: Great save from Onana! It’s great entertainment. De Bruyne used a simple pass to give Foden a clean shot, at least for him. Foden ran to the edge of the penalty area and shot with his right foot, which was blocked by Onana, who adopted a Schmeichel pose. We haven’t seen the replay yet, but at first glance it looked like a good save rather than a bad one.
17 minutes: Manchester United chance! Bernardo Silva turned and shot but Varane blocked it. United broke through when Fernandez put Rashford through after a Dias error, but he kept the ball behind and Walker was able to clear.
This won’t happen at xG, but it’s a great opportunity. The bounce wasn’t clumsy, just Rashford’s lazy header. You see, he is too relaxed!
15 minutes: Onana makes a great save! The city’s reaction was as you’d expect. Bernardo Silva passed the ball to Foden, and Foden’s right-footed shot was kicked out by Onana. It’s not the easiest opportunity for Foden as he has to wrap his feet around the ball on the move.
14 minutes Rashford’s kick was clean and superb. It’s like he’s showing off in practice to see who can make the purest contact. The point I’m trying to make is that it was such an easy strike, not nervous at all.
12 minutes Ake gave a cheap corner kick, and Ederson made the corner kick a bit embarrassing. The city briefly fell into chaos.
The goal is set! Fernandez came close to being offside but was marked by Ake at the far end, who raced onto Onana’s long goal kick and deflected it away from Dias on the edge of the area. He turned and passed the ball back to Rashford, who ran onto the ball from deep and fired a lazy shot from 25 yards. It flew past Ederson, hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced into the net.
I think it might have been ruled out for offside…
Target! Manchester City 0-1 Manchester United (Rushford 8)
This is a sausage From Marcus Rashford!
8 minutes After City had the ball for a long period of time, De Bruyne’s cross was headed by Evans and was caught by Onana.
6 minutes Manchester United fell behind Manchester City for the first time. McTominay passed the ball to Ganaccio, who avoided Ake in the right inside channel. Ake countered well and diverted Ganaccio’s cross to Ederson.
5 minutes City got off to a very good start. There is a certain logic to United’s formation, especially keeping Rashford and Ganaccio wide, making it easier to get them into the backline. It was a brave decision by Erik ten Hag as he would have been frustrated if they had lost, although they probably would have lost regardless of the formation.
3 minutes De Bruyne played a beautifully disguised pass to Stones, wandering into the area in open play. Casemiro got a slight but crucial touch as he cut through a defender and prepared to shoot. Manchester City appealed against the penalty, but nothing came of it.
2 minutes City won a corner early on when Foden’s long-range shot deflected behind him, which led to another. Manchester United’s formation is very charming, basically 4-2-4-0. They tried this two years ago under Ralf Rangnick and lost 4-1, despite memories of a pretty good first half.
Manchester United (4-2-4-0) Onana; Dalot, Varane, Evans, Lindelof; Casemiro, Mainu; Grenache, Fernandez, McTominay, Rashford.
1 minute Peep peep peep! As we watched, City kicked off from right to left. Manchester United started with a box midfielder, two wingers, but no centre-forward.
“It’s great to get the latest news on the formation of the Alliance Diamond,” Jeremy Boyce said. “Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, amber, emeralds (Part 1)? Does it really make any difference? We all know who will win the trophy in May/June. So Manchester United 1-0?”
Football is an interesting old sport.Manchester United need to win and Keep a clean sheet.
Team reminder
Manchester City (probably 4-1-2-3) Ederson; Walker, Stone, Slide, Ake; Rodri; De Bruyne, Bernard; Foden, Speech, Ph.D.
Substitutes: Ortega, Gvardiol, Akanji, Luis, Kovacic, Gomez, Nunes, Bobu, Alvarez.
Manchester United (probably 4-D-2) Onana; Lindelof, Varane, Evans, Dalot; Casemiro; Fernandez, Mainu; McTominay; Grenache, Rashford.
Substitutes: Bayindil, Kambuwala, Ogunneye, Amrabat, Eriksson, Forson, Collier, Diallo, Anthony.
referee Andy Madeley.
Erik ten Hag pre-match interview
We have some players with physical issues who are fighting to be able to play in this game. Jonny Evans is one of them – he wants to play and this is the strongest back four we have.
[On his tactics] Sometimes we want to overload the midfield. We know they have a very high back line. We had a lot of pace with Garnacho, Rashford and then Scott McTominay on the second line and Diogo Dalot on the third line. We have a lot of options there.
Sky Sports, they tend to have more inside information than your humble Guardian, thinking that a) United will use a diamond and split forward, and b) Diogo Dalot will serve as left-back. This is their combined formation.
Manchester United(4-D-2) Onana; Dalot, Varane, Evans, Lindelof; Casemiro; Fernandez, Mainu; McTominay; Rashford, Grenache.
Substitutes: Bayindil, Kambuwala, Ogunneye, Amrabat, Eriksson, Forson, Collier, Diallo, Anthony.
Pep speaks
We know their strengths and qualities. [What are they?] Eric, the manager, knows the plan better than I do. We address this as quickly as possible and use the right dose of energy—not too much, not too little—in an effort to perform well.
when [Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, who both start] A high level of performance and it’s an incredible weapon for us.Jeremy [Doku] It’s been a great season, especially his first. We need someone who can dribble the ball in the final third and he has that quality.
Full time: Burnley 0-2 Bournemouth
An early Premier League campaign didn’t go according to plan for Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany and his Burnley side were beaten again. John Brewin has more.
Jamie Jackson talks Bruno Fernandez
Jonathan Wilson on Erling Haaland
Our investigation shows…
Team news
Guardiola made three changes from Manchester City’s last league game, a 1-0 win over Bournemouth eight days ago: Kyle WalkerKEvan De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku Replaces Manuel Akanji, Mathieu Kovacic and Mathieu Nunes.
Erik ten Hag made two changes from the home league defeat to Fulham. Jonny Evans Substitute for injured Harry Maguire Scott McTominay Replaces Omari Forson. This would mean some form of tactical switch – either a midfield diamond or Bruno Fernandes playing out wide.
Manchester City (probably 4-1-2-3) Ederson; Walker, Stone, Slide, Ake; Rodri; De Bruyne, Bernard; Foden, Speech, Ph.D.
Substitutes: Ortega, Gvardiol, Akanji, Luis, Kovacic, Gomez, Nunes, Bobu, Alvarez.
Manchester United (probably 4-1-4-1) Onana; Dalot, Varane, Evans, Lindelof; Casemiro; Fernandez, McTominay, Mainu, Grenache; Rashford.
Substitutes: Bayindil, Kambuwala, Ogunneye, Amrabat, Eriksson, Forson, Collier, Diallo, Anthony.
referee Andy Madeley.
Preface
Hello and welcome to the live broadcast of the Manchester derby match at the Etihad Stadium. On paper, it’s a mouth-watering prospect. Manchester City has won 14 of 15 games; Manchester United has won its past six away games. In fact, few people in their right mind pray for Manchester United. They lost 6-3 to Manchester City last season and were flattered by the score, very flattered. The days of regular wins at the Etihad Stadium are long gone. Solskjaer is no longer the manager.
Alas, the only metric (drinks!) by which United beat City is the number of injuries. They’re missing at least three, and arguably six, of the squad that Erik ten Hag would have wanted to be in today, which makes things even bleaker on a meager to nothing basis.
All logic points to City winning, and probably a huge one. But football doesn’t always follow logic, which is why this may be the greatest game you’ll ever see in your life. It’s a good idea to keep refreshing the page just in case.
kick off 3.30pm.
