Different Season, Same City

By David Best

We have just borne witness to the first Manchester derby of this new era of Manchester football. Manchester City get to take home all three points from the derby at Old Trafford after an extremely controversial 1-0 victory over Manchester United on Sunday 13 September. So, what went wrong for United? What went well for City? This piece will analyse the game from start to finish.  

Manchester United named a strong starting 11 with Patrick Dorgu filling in for an injured Luke Shaw at left-back. City named what is probably their strongest 11, with Foden on the right and Semenyo on the left covering for an injured Jeremy Doku. The game kicked off with both teams looking very much up for the battle, with Mainoo and Anderson in particular relishing the 1v1 clash they had in the middle of the park over the 90 minutes. City, predictably under Enzo Maresca, dominated possession until around 25 minutes into the match when Phil Foden lashed out at a perceived kick from Bruno Fernandes and was sent off the field. VAR checked and cleared the red card on Foden after it was immediately given by the referee due to Foden clearly kicking Bruno in the stomach after having been pushed to the ground. It was from this point that the performance from United should worry fans.  

For some reason, once City went down to 10 men, they played better and United played worse. The simple explanation is that Manchester United’s management of the game did not change. They did the exact same slow, passing build up play that they have always done under Carrick. This is unacceptable from a tactical point of view. When you are playing an opponent that is a man down, you have to up the tempo. You must play quicker passing moves and shift the ball in a way that stretches the opponents out of shape, making the pitch as big as possible so as to expose the hole in the opposition defence. Not only did Carrick’s side fail to tactically adapt to being a man up, but Enzo’s men also defended like their lives depended on it with every single one of them did their duty and collectively made up for being short a number. Eventually, City were even able to find their way through United with Gvardiol delivering a cross that took a deflection off of Dorgu, and was met by the golden boot of Erling Haaland.  

Now for the controversy. Enzo Fernández was in the box and in an offside position when this cross came in. His international teammate Lisandro Martinez was behind him and would’ve been clearly in a position to intercept the ball before it reached Haaland at the back post, had it not been for Fernandez throwing his head towards the ball in a failed attempt at a header. The goal was ruled offside, but then bafflingly overturned after a lengthy VAR check. The call from VAR is, in my opinion, the most horrendous failure of the VAR system to uphold the rules of the game since its introduction. The decision left the commentating team and the post-match pundits all in complete shock. There was a clear attempt to play the ball that interfered with play whilst in an offside position. It is that simple, and yet somehow the goal stood. Carrick and the hundreds of millions of Manchester United fans around the world have responded understandably furiously. No doubt that in the coming days and weeks, the decision from VAR will be the centre of attention in every football circle.  

In summary, despite the endlessly confusing VAR call that led to the winning goal, it cannot be said that Manchester United deserved to win the game. As bitter a taste the match has left, fans of the Red Devils cannot in all honesty say that they were the better team. There were two moments in which Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo both hit posts with their efforts on goal, but apart from that City dominated the game and United were rightly beaten. It is a shame that what was a very good performances from the blue side of Manchester will be overshadowed by a very bad performance from the officials. However, there is still a long way to go until the end of the season, so time will only tell how important these three points truly will be for the Blues.