Manchester City 1-2 Manchester United: 3 crucial factors which stood out in the Manchester derby

Manchester United beat Manchester City 2-1 in the Manchester derby at the Etihad stadium last night. The win took United to fifth place in the league table with 24 points in 16 matches, whereas defending champions City remained at the third position with 32 from 16.

League leaders Liverpool now have a 14-point advantage over City, and that gap that could prove to be too big to close.

Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial scored the two goals for United in the 23rd and 29th minutes respectively, and Nicolas Otamendi reduced the deficit in the 85th minute. It was City’s 4th defeat in the league this season, and a big blow to their title aspirations.

The win would also boost the confidence of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side. It was their second successive victory after Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

Here, we take a look at the three crucial factors which stood out in last night’s match:

#1 United defended exceptionally well

United played with a back 4 last night and each of their four defenders performed exceptionally well. Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire were imperious at the heart of United’s defence. They made some very crucial interceptions and blocks inside the penalty box, and also won numerous aerial battles.

United defended deep last night and seldom played the high line. It was a dour and stubborn display by their defenders to keep the City attackers at bay. Aaron Wan-Bissaka also had an excellent match, and came up with some vital challenges in the defensive third. He had the unenviable job of containing Raheem Sterling, and performed it exceedingly well.

City made most of their attacks through the inside right and left channels, and the United fullbacks had to be on their toes all the time. However, they succeeded in holding on to the lead and obtained three crucial points.

#2 United played some brilliant counter-attacking football

United sat back and absorbed the pressure before launching some vicious counter-attacks on the City defence. Both their goals came off such counter-attacking moves in the first half.

For the first goal, Marcus Rashford cut in from the left flank to enter into the City penalty box, and was tripped by Bernardo Silva. The referee awarded a penalty to United after consulting VAR, and the 22-year-old forward made no mistake in scoring his 13th goal of the season.

Rashford could have scored another goal in the first half itself, but he only succeeded in hitting the woodwork.

The second goal also came off a counter-attacking move, as Anthony Martial and Daniel James played a one-two and then Martial beat Ederson with a clinical shot from the edge of the penalty box. The City defence did not have enough time to re-organize themselves and could not prevent the French striker from scoring his 6th goal of the season.

#3 City missed some key players

City’s defence has looked a bit vulnerable this season owing to the absence of Aymeric Laporte, one of their most consistent performers from last season. The 34-year-old Fernandinho and an inconsistent John Stones were not able to stop the United counter-attacks.

Moreover, Rodri could not fall back quickly enough to stop the swift moves by United. City were clearly missing Laporte at the heart of their defence.

They also missed Sergio Aguero upfront, as Gabriel Jesus tried desperately to compensate for the former’s absence. However, Jesus did not have the clinical accuracy needed to replace the 31-year-old Argentine striker, who has scored 244 goals in 353 matches for City so far.

Jesus started moving to the left flank frequently in the second half to create space for other players, and Sterling made some forays into the opposition box, but those efforts were not enough to make up for Aguero’s absence.

Edited by Musab Abid