Manchester Derby : United vs City

Written by Rohan Sharma 

Well the 182^nd Manchester Derby was played yesterday at Old Trafford and it was the Red Devils who walked away from the pitch with all three points with a 2-0 victory over their noisy neighbours from the blue half of Manchester.

With the fight for a Champions League spot up for grabs, it was imperative that Manchester United had to win against Manchester City. With the likes of Wolves and Sheffield United winning earlier in the weekend piled pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side to win against their fierce rivals on home turf.

Let's take a look at how both these teams lined up for this match :

Pep Guardiola stuck to his usual 4-3-3 formation while OGS stuck to his 3-4-1-2 formation.

Let’s look at how these two teams were tactically set up & their game plan:

1)     Manchester United :

Manchester United was playing with a high press which included a very disciplined man to man marking which involved marking every City player except Ederson which would force the City Keeper to play long balls. Since United had more physical bodied personnel at their final third thus resulted in United winning the second ball and quickly attacking their opponents on the break. This set-up was deployed to prevent City from building from the back.

When in possession United would look to hit City on the Counter and they would achieve this when City lose the ball in Attacking Half and thus a quick pass to Fernandes or Daniel James would result in these pacy wingers have a go at City’s Centre Backs where Daniel James would often find himself in a 1v1 situation with Nicolas Otamendi.When in City’s final third, United would overcrowd the penalty area to have a chance to score from tap-ins whenever a cross was made from either side.

United’s Goal in the first half from the free-kick was an absolute beauty as Fernandes was quick to spot Antony Martial while the others were busy forming the wall. While many would go on to say that it was Ederson’s fault for this goal but in my opinion, it was Gundogan’s fault in reality as he was tasked with marking Martial.

 In the second half, Daniel James would drop deep to pull Zinchenko out of position to allow Bruno Fernandes to run from the right to deliver a cross in City’s box thus resulting in more chances created for the home side in the Second Half.

United’s second goal in extra time was a gift from Ederson who misplaced his throw directed at Benjamin Mendy from which Scot McTominay scored a beauty with a perfectly timed run to lash the misplaced throw from Ederson into the empty goal.

2)     Manchester City :

When City had possession they would build from the back and be prepared to do so even though United were playing with a high press. Ederson would play short passes with the nearest Center back until Daniel James or Bruno Fernandes would press the goalkeeper which would free up one of the Defenders who in turn would play the ball to Rodri or Gundogan who would then begin City’s attack.

In the opposition half, City played with a 3-5-2 with Cancelo dropping deep to play as a makeshift Centre back to counter United’s counter-attack. Since Raheem Sterling was having trouble dealing to get past Wan Bissaka. Thus City tried to overcrowd the left flank with Phil Foden deployed as a right-winger to use the teenager's pace to get past Luke Shaw. Zinchenko would often drag Fred away from Gundogan by playing as an extra midfielder to allow the number 8 to initiate City’s attack from the right side.

In the second half, Mendy was brought on for Zinchenko to increase pressure from the right since Sterling was being pinned down by AWB. City would crowd the midfield in front of United’s Centre backs to allow shot being taken from either side of the box with Mahrez, Aguero, Foden all taking shots at United’s goal. Mahrez who was brought on for Bernardo Silva was City’s best player when he crossed a very good ball in the box only to be missed by City’s number nine Gabriel Jesus. Had that would have been scored, things could have turned out differently.

My Opinion :

Ederson was the worst player on the pitch today as his mistake led to City conceding a very silly goal and should have done more to stop Martials’s shot that should have been easily stopped. Aaron Wan Bissaka was the best player on the pitch as he single-handedly stopped City’s most attacking threat, Sterling. Hats off to Bruno Fernandes, Antony Martial and David de Gea also for their performance. Although this result would have no effect for Pep Guardiola’s side as they still comfortably sit in second and should look to the visit of Real Madrid next week. United, on the other hand, should now fancy their chances of finishing in the top 4 to bring Champions League back to Old Trafford.