Manchester United suffered a shameful surrender in the derby as City showed their quality which was much greater.
Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez both scored twice; United equalised from 1-0 through Jadon Sancho but their second half performance was as pitiful as anything ever served up by this squad – and by the reputation of them from their track record, that is some going.
It was a passive and regretful display for United’s players who now would probably be better served admitting themselves they are just not good enough.
While it was leaked early in the day that Cristiano Ronaldo would not feature (you would have probably been able to determine that from the squad party anyway) there were more surprises when Marcus Rashford was not in the team and it was also revealed that Raphael Varane and Luke Shaw would miss the match.
It all resulted in Ralf Rangnick starting Bruno Fernandes as, effectively, a false nine, although from the moment the team was named there was at least a curiosity to see if he would spring a surprise; he did so in the build-up by telling MUTV that Edinson Cavani made the decision not to play, after the manager had said at the end of the week that he expected the Uruguayan to be part of the squad. Cavani’s white flag was a red flag for what was to follow.
It’s merely the latest let-down in a season full of them, ahead of a game where most United supporters were fearing the worst anyway, especially following Arsenal’s fairly comfortable win earlier in the day at Watford, another of those results which doesn’t reflect well on this United squad at all. And yet even that was nothing compared to the horror of what would unfold.
Five minutes in and it seemed like it would be a repeat of November’s training session; City played passes around statues of defenders and De Bruyne was on hand to shoot; Telles was too late with the tackle and the ball went through Maguire’s legs into the net.
United, though, were surprisingly confident moving forward from that point for a spell. Neat football between Pogba and Fernandes saw the Frenchman play a smart ball across the pitch to find Sancho in space. The winger deliberated, giving Fernandes enough time to make a run to take Walker away, and fired a neat shot from the edge of the area which found the corner.
It was the note for City to up the tempo. Foden hit the bar with a looping header and was instrumental in his team regaining the lead just before the half hour. He flicked the ball over Lindelof’s head and the visiting defence were all at sixes and sevens yet again; De Gea saved Foden’s effort, but De Bruyne was on hand to slot in again as Wan-Bissaka and Telles were sprawling on the floor. Lindelof, having been embarrassed, stood still and watched it unfold as De Bruyne benefitted from the space the Swede allowed him.
Guardiola’s team were exposing the flanks with outnumbering, particularly on the left, but even on the right, and Mahrez forced De Gea into another save.
Sancho had a chance to level again but fired over from a favourable position; on the stroke of half-time Maguire had a chance from a corner but was taken by surprise by the ball hitting him.
It seemed as though Rangnick’s side had at least done enough to give themselves optimism for the second half but there was absolutely nothing after the break, save for a moment where Elanga’s inexperience caused him to hesitate when in a decent position.
If Lindelof had taken negative reviews for the first half it was Maguire’s turn in the second; he was probably lucky to escape a red card for a wild swing at De Bruyne. Shortly after, it was off the captain’s knee that a Mahrez daisy cutter from the edge of the area deflected past De Gea into the net.
The last twenty minutes were in keeping with the training exercises United fans suffered at Old Trafford. City fans had two ‘ole’ passages; Joao Cancelo tried a bicycle kick from the edge of the box; Mahrez beat another attempt at the world’s worst offside trap to score in the last minute to make it four, which really was generous on the visitors.
Ralf Rangnick has generally had United more stable and more controlling of games against lesser opponents for thirty minutes before a progressively poor last hour. This was the same pattern, but the poorness was exploited by a strong team to leave this group of United players with absolutely nowhere to hide.
Rangnick clearly won’t be the answer, either, by the way. It’s just as safe a bet that none of these players will be in Manchester United’s next league winning team – judging by today’s performance, that’s going to take a long, long time.
Tactics
Rangnick’s approach was undoubtedly hampered by illness, injury and alleged withdrawals. It was expected he would start with a false 9 in Fernandes but instead pushed Pogba up and gave licence for Fred to interchange with them, while Sancho and Elanga were asked to work hard on the line and inside. It was probably the best that could have been made from these circumstances.
Still, the system wasn’t a million miles away from City’s own, particularly with the lack of actual strikers, and the difference in quality was obvious and pronounced. Unlike November, United couldn’t be criticised for lack of effort, nor tactical set-up, but the hard reality of the ability of these sets of players being a distance apart continues to show the distance the visitors have yet to travel to match them.
The second half in particular, where United’s average possession over the entire game dropping to 21% at one point, was a humiliating experience that this group of players will simply not be able to recover from. It was the sort of game that will be referred to in generations as exactly what was wrong with the club at this moment.
Ratings
De Gea 6
Wan-Bissaka 3
Lindelof 3
Maguire 3
Telles 3
McTominay 4
Fred 4
Elanga 6
Fernandes 4
Pogba 5
Sancho 6
Subs
Rashford
Lingard
