Manchester City suffered a Manchester derby collapse at Old Trafford to leave empty-handed.
Pep Guardiola’s men took a second-half lead through Jack Grealish following a dull first half, but despite controlling the game for much of the second period, they were victim to a Manchester United comeback, with Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford on target to continue United’s impressive home run.
City were left frustrated in the first half, with United pinning back Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker, leaving the Premier League champions unable to play out from the back comfortably. With United compact off the ball, City’s attackers barely touched the ball in the opening exchanges with Phil Foden and Erling Haaland managing just 10 touches between them in the first 30 minutes.
Erik ten Hag’s men caused the odd problem on the break, with Rashford going close, forcing a clearance off the line, but the clash was generally too tight for anyone to create consistent danger in the first half.
Guardiola ripped up the game plan at half-time, with Rodri and Bernardo Silva taking their usual positions, and City immediately looked more dangerous, setting the tone and pinning United into their own half. That allowed Cancelo and Walker to get forward, and United were less of a threat as a result.
Grealish was brought on for the ineffective Phil Foden in the 56th minute, with City finding their tempo. The former Aston Villa captain made his mark on the derby almost immediately - four minutes after coming on, he made a clever run to head home Kevin De Bruyne’s pin-point cross from the byline.
City looked comfortably for a spell after the goal, but their lead was cancelled out when Fernandes scored a controversial equaliser. Rashford was clearly offside as he burst through on goal, and the United striker all-but shielded the ball until the last minute, when Fernandes arrived to stroke home. Rashford was adjudged not to have interfered and the goal was given.
And it got worse for Guardiola’s men when substitute Alejandro Garnacho delivered a pin-point cross as the second time of asking for Rashford to latch on to. City had multiple bodies in the box but allowed Rashford to trot onto the end of the cross and tap home the winner.
Take a look below as we rate the City players...
9. Riyad Mahrez - 5
Busy but not his most dangerous. Had the odd nice touch, forced to drift inside amid a lack of action, but he did provide a lovely pass to open up the first goal, finding De Bruyne in the box.
10. Erling Haaland - 4
Forced to be very patient, dropping deep in the first half. Haaland saw very little action and didn’t force his way into the game. United marked the attacker out of the game and without really breaking a sweat.
11. Phil Foden - 3
Had three touches in first 30 minutes. Foden didn’t find any gaps in the first half. It didn’t get much better in the second half, and Foden was subbed in the 56th minute. Ultimately, Foden needed to find a way to make his mark and failed to do so.
12. Jack Grealish (on 56) - 8
Brought on to create danger and did just that. Made a nice run and attacked a Kevin De Bruyne cross to head home the opener and break United’s resolve on the hour mark. Brought attitude and flair to a derby that had been lacking just that. A very good cameo, even if it wasn’t enough.