Dumped out of the Europa League by Liverpool a few days back, a lot was to be riding on this fixture for Manchester United in terms of their quest for making top four in the Premier League.
The stage was set at the Etihad for the Manchester derby and thanks to the latest wonderkid, Marcus Rashford, United secured a 1-0 win over their bitter rivals Manchester City.
In spite of the Etihad being an advantage to the home team, Manchester United did well enough to fend off Manchester City and improve their own chances of getting closer to a spot in the top four by securing three points thanks to the fairly early goal by Marcus Rashford - a beautiful one scored skipping past Demichelis.
With that victory, United moved up to 6th place, just one point behind City who sit at 4th.
Here are the player ratings for the game.
Manchester City:
Joe Hart – 5/10Joe Hart got injured early in the second half with a terrible back pass from Demichelis and was replaced by Willy Caballero. As for the goal United scored in the first half, there was nothing that could be done by Hart to have stopped it.
Bacary Sagna – 6/10Sagna could have been better at centre back and struggled in bits throughout but did a decent job.
Martin Demichelis - 2.5/10Demichelis had one of his worst performances as a City player. He let Rashford score the goal, caused Hart’s injury and also could have given away a penalty. He was replaced later by Wilfried Bony in the 52nd minute.
Eliaquim Mangala – 5/10Mangala didn’t have a very good game either but was decent. He didn’t put a foot wrong but just wasn’t helped by Demichelis alongside him. He was booked for a nasty challenge on Lingard.
Gael Clichy – 6/10Clichy almost got the chance of having a goal and was fairly solid throughout. He was one of the very few from the team putting in a shift.
Yaya Toure – 6/10Toure again was one of City’s better players. He had some good moments and went close to scoring but wasn’t able to take up the entire team’s workload on himself.
Fernandinho – 6.5/10Following Demichelis being a mess, there was a change of system as Fernandinho moved into the centre of defence alongside Mangala where he did well and kept busy. He was quite dictating at centre back.
Jesus Navas – 6/10Navas had two close attempts early on - one a volley that went wide and the other stopped by De Gea. The Spaniard was one of the players putting on a fight.
David Silva – 5/10Silva played at a wider role after Sterling was subbed off due to injury and looked to find some momentum but failed.
Raheem Sterling – 6/10Sterling started off well and looked promising with his runs but was taken down by Mata and subbed off with a groin injury. Was replaced by Fernando.
Sergio Aguero – 7/10As everyone would expect him to be, Aguero was City’s biggest threat. The Argentine’s attempt in the second half was off the post. A lot of times he looked to be the only one fighting for his team. He showed the desire to equalize throughout but was unlucky.
Substitutes:
Willy Caballero – 6.5/10Caballero came on for Hart early in the second half. He saved a good effort from Martial well and overall did a decent job.
Fernando – 7/10Fernando came on for Sterling in the 25th minute and did well by having an immediate impact.
Wilfred Bony – 5/10Bony came on as replacement for Demichelis but didn’t have much of an impact.
Manchester United
David de Gea – 7/10As expected, De Gea had a good game again but wasn’t tested as much as you’d expect him to be in a derby. He made a good save from a Navas’ attempt early on.
Matteo Darmian – 6.5/10Darmian did all he had to do or was expected to do well including a great interception to deny Silva a glorious chance.
Chris Smalling – 5/10Smalling was very fortunate to not have escaped a red card for a foul on Aguero. However, he did a job good enough.
Daley Blind – 7/10Blind had a good game with 6 tackles, 5 interceptions and 4 clearances. He fought hard and won a crucial battle with Aguero.
Marcos Rojo – 5/10Rojo got forward in the first half decently but was replaced by Valencia in the 63rd minute. The Argentine international was the weakness of the team, especially against Navas.
Morgan Schneiderlin – 7.5/10Schneiderlin worked hard and was solid; had a good game, as usual. He gave away nothing and went forward well.
Michael Carrick -7.5/10City’s midfield barely got the better of Carrick and he didn’t succumb to the pressure of the derby. He was effective and made a few great blocks.
Jesse Lingard – 7/10Lingard did well and looked lively. His play was intelligent and dangerous. He looked bright in his number ten role.
Juan Mata – 7/10Mata gave a good ball leading to the opening goal by Rashford. He was one of the better midfielders out there. The Spaniard was busy and effective in whatever he did.
Anthony Martial – 8/10Martial had another good game. His pace caused problems and was threatening during phases of the game. He threatened City every time he had the ball.
Marcus Rashford – 9/10Rashford became the youngest player to score in the Premier League Manchester derby. This was in fact, his 5th in 8 games and later turned out to be the winner, giving his team three points and securing his status of the budding superstar of the team. The young winger caused City some serious problems and put up a performance good enough to get man of the match.
Substitutes
Antonio Valencia – 6/10Valencia came on for Rojo in the 62nd minute and had a steady cameo.
Bastian Schweinsteiger – 6/10Schweinsteiger came on for Mata in the 70th minute and did alright. The ex-Bayern man neither added anything nor did he take away, so the effort was decent.
Timothy Fosu-Mensah – N/AFosu-Mensah was back in the squad and came on for Darmian in the 83rd minute.
