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Manchester City hosted Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night for the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final. The first leg was won by the Citizens 3-1 and the Red Devils needed at least two goals without conceding to take the match into penalties as the away-goal rule doesn't apply in the Carabao Cup.
In the first half of the game, City started really well and created a number of good opportunities, all of which were saved by David de Gea. After the early burst from the home side, the United came back into the game and scored through Nemanja Matic's brilliant half-volley in the 35th minute.
Manchester United had Manchester City where they wanted them but the second half didn't exactly pan out the way Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would have wanted. Matic was sent off as he was shown a second yellow card in the 76th minute, and that made it really tough for United to grab hold of the game. In the end, the hosts held on and now, they will be facing Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup final.
Here, we are going to take a look at the three talking points from the game at the Etihad.
#3 Manchester City did everything but score
The home side, on the day, had so many opportunities to kill the tie, but somehow, they managed to squander all those big chances and that kept Manchester United in the game. In the first half, the tie could have been done in 10 minutes, as first Sergio Aguero mistimed a simple header, which was saved by De Gea, before Riyadh Mahrez's effort was saved again by the Spaniard.
Then, in the second period, Raheem Sterling literally missed an open goal, before Manchester City won the ball just inside United's 18-yard box but instead of taking a shot, they kept passing it and because of that, the opportunity was gone.
All in all, it wasn't such a great performance from City's forwards and they should have, at least, scored two goals on the day.
#2 Jesse Lingard's poor display shows why United needed Bruno Fernandes
Jesse Lingard was by far Manchester United's worst player on the day, as whenever the Red Devils tried to spring an attack, he was carelessly giving the ball away and showed next to no quality on the ball in the final third. Solskjaer so far has played two formations primarily, 3-4-1-2 and 4-2-3-1.
In both the formations, there is the need for a dynamic number 10, who would not only help in the build-ups but also create opportunities for the forwards. Unfortunately, Lingard hasn't been doing that for quite a while now and that just goes on to show the importance of United signing someone like Bruno Fernandes.
Fernandes is expected to improve Manchester United's midfield, and Solskjaer might finally have a solution to his number 10 problem.
#1 Positives galore for the Red Devils
Let's just get this out of the way, even though Manchester City missed a lot of opportunities, Manchester United need to be credited for keeping a clean sheet at the Etihad Stadium which is not an easy feat. The clean sheet was largely due to Harry Maguire's commanding display at the back. Although he made one error, it didn't result in a goal.
Then, in midfield, Matic and Fred were outstanding; the former scored a brilliant goal and was unlucky to be sent off. Fred, on the other hand, is slowly becoming United's most important player, and against City, he carried the ball with some Brazilian swagger and also showed his ball-winning abilities.
Furthermore, Solskjaer became the third manager in the world, alongside Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho, to win two away matches against Pep Guardiola's team. So, even though Manchester United lost on aggregate, it was a valiant effort from the Red Devils.
Also Read: Manchester City 0-1 Manchester United: 3 standout players from tonight's derby | EFL Cup 2019-20
