Barney Ronay on Phil Foden
Ten Hag’s reaction …
Jamie Jackson’s player ratings …
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That’s all for today, but you can join Xaymaca Awoyungbo for a big game at the top of the WSL. Goodnight!
David Hytner’s match report
At least it was not another abject humiliation. That was the crumb of comfort from the Manchester United point of view. In four of the previous six derbies – and that did not include the FA Cup final at the end of last season, which Manchester City won 2-1 – United had been taken apart in grisly fashion. Their supporters even had the thrill of seeing Marcus Rashford blast them into an early lead with a furious long-range drive.
City reaction: 'We call him the Sniper!'
Phil Foden
It’s my aim to turn up in the big games. That’s what I want to do and this season I think I’ve done that. I just need to keep working hard.
The manager said to switch with Bernardo just before the second goal. He knows best!
Kyle Walker
Phil’s been first-class this season. That’s the standard he sets for himself and the manager sets for him. He likes a shot - we call him the Sniper! But listen, when he comes in on that left foot you know he’s got the quality, calmness and composure to pick his spot. He took both goals fantastically well.
I said in the dressing-room at half-time that it wasn’t a bad performance from us. Sometimes you take your hat off to goals like Marcus’s. It’s about the reaction – we know, especially in games here, that it’s not over until it’s over.
[On the challenge with Rashford before Foden’s first goal] I haven’t looked back at it but I didn’t think there was much in it. I did what I normally do, get my arm across people. The referee and VAR checked it and that’s it.
City had 73.7 per cent possession and 27 shots to United’s three. I suppose it’s an indictment of United’s current state – and, in fairness, their injury list – that it feels like they didn’t play particularly badly.
The Premier League may be a three-horse race. The Bundesliga is not
“Onana had a really good game,” says Dechlan Brennan, “but the keeper should have a stronger hand with that shot.”
I haven’t had chance to see a replay, but I have a half-formed theory that some players shoot in a way that makes low shots unusually awkward for keepers. Foden is definitely one; Andrei Kanchelskis was another when he was at Man Utd. It might be the lack of backlift, I’m not sure.
Full time: Man City 3-1 Man Utd
The champions move within a point of Liverpool after overwhelming a spirited but inferior Manchester United in the second half. Phil Foden scored two fine goals, the first a howitzer from 25 yards, before Erling Haaland finished the game in stoppage time.
Marcus Rashford’s monstrous early goal had put United ahead, and for 25 minutes they were a big threat on the break. But City stopped United’s counter-attacks, kept passing the ball and waited for their superiority to tell. It was a pretty good plan.
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90+6 min: City substitution Foden stays down after a late challenge from Amrabat, or was it Antony. He gets to his feet and is replaced by Oscar Bobb; he’s walking a little gingerly but seems absolutely fine. Wouldn’t you be after a day like that.
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90+5 min City enjoy a bit of olé football. This has been a bruising second half for United, who have barely had a kick.
90+4 min This is how the league table looks. We’re on for the best three-horse title race in a last a decade, maybe a whole lot longer.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 27 | 39 | 63 |
| 2 | Man City | 27 | 35 | 62 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 26 | 39 | 58 |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 27 | 22 | 55 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 26 | 16 | 50 |
Sofyan Amrabat, another good player who has been a shadow of himself since joining United, was dispossessed 20 yards from goal by Rodri. He played an early pass through to Haaland, who opened his body to shape the ball into the far corner with his left foot. A clinical finish.
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GOAL! Man City 3-1 Man Utd (Haaland 90+2)
Erling Haaland will sleep a whole lot better tonight!
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90+1 min Correction: they’re eight minutes of added time away. But United are barely getting a kick, and De Bruyne almost finishes it off by whooshing just wide from 25 yards.
90 min City are a few minutes away from their 15th win in 16 games since they left for Saudi Arabia in mid-December.
88 min De Bruyne swerves away from Kambwala on the left and hammers a cross that is turned behind by Varane. The corner leads to another, which eventually leads to an excellent clearance in his own six-yard box by Varane.
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86 min City are keeping the ball with an unashamed superiority. It’s been a pretty humbling experience for United – they’ve played well in parts, and have given City some nervous moments, yet they have still been totally outclassed.
84 min “I know that in the modern game it’s normal for a match between big clubs to take place mostly in front of one team’s 18-yard line,” says Kári Tulinius. “But when Barcelona v Chelsea played out that way in 2012, it felt shocking. Roberto Di Matteo may be the most influential manager of the last decade.”
Are you saying John Terry invented modern football by kneeing Alexis Sanchez up the arse?
82 min Foden suddenly finds himself on consecutive derby hat-tricks at the Etihad.
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81 min: Double substitution for Man Utd Omari Forson and Sofyan Amrabat replace Alejandro Garnacho, who was quite, and Kobbie Mainoo, who played well in exceptionally difficult circumstances.
City trusted the goal would come if they kept doing the right things, and they were right. The move started when De Bruyne, on the left, played a square ball to Foden. He pushed it down the line to Alvarez, ran onto the return pass and swept a crisp low shot into the far corner. Onana got a hand on it but couldn’t keep it out.
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GOAL! Man City 2-1 Man Utd (Foden 80)
Phil Foden has surely won the derby for City!
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78 min Mainoo puts Garnacho through on goal with a neat if slightly heavy pass. Ederson comes out feet first, even though he’s in the penalty area, wins the ball cleanly and then trips Garnacho with his follow through. United want a penalty; the referee Andy Madley and the VAR team disagree. It looked a good, if risky challenge.
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77 min City are showing the first signs of frustration. For all their dominance, all their big chances were in the first half.
75 min: Man Utd substitution Antony replaces Marcus Rashford, who scored a stonking early goal and struggled thereafter.
74 min City continue to do the same things, trusting that this game of Tetris will eventually become too much for the United defence. The mental demands must be extraordinary.
73 min With United in a fairly promising position, Rashford struggles to change direction to collect a pass from Fernandes. That’s happened to him two or three times today – I don’t know whether it’s the pitch, his footwear or neither.
72 min Man Utd have rejigged their defence: Kambwala right-back, Varane and Lindelof in the centre, Dalot on the left.
71 min A long-range sizzler from Walker is patted down by Onana and claimed at the second attempt. Onana has been very assured today, and if that leads to a late howler or two, Fabien Barthez at Highbury-style, then I apologise.
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71 min Evans didn’t look injured, by the way, but he’s played only 45 minutes in the last six weeks so I guess he had emptied the tank.
70 min De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva are over the free-kick… and De Bruyne slaps it into the wall.
69 min: Man Utd substitution The teenage defender Willy Kambwala replaces Jonny Evans at centre-back. Godspeed young man.
68 min Haaland turns Evans cleverly, then bulldozes past Varane on the edge of the D and is cynically fouled. Yellow card for Varane and a free-kick to City…
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66 min Onana is fine to continue. Who knew?
66 min “You can’t say City haven’t deserved to equalise as they been all over United like a rash,” says Rick Harris, “but from the replays I think United were hard done by as Rashford was clearly fouled by Walker.”
What did I miss? It didn’t look like a foul at all to me, though you sometimes miss these things when you’re MBMing because you spend half the time looking at the wrong screen.
65 min Onana slides out to collect a through ball and then signals to the bench that he’s tweaked something. Gary Neville speculates that he might be timewasting – United have been at it all day – but the referee has no choice but to allow the physio on.
64 min Bernardo Silva’s header back across goal is just too high for Haaland. It’s coming…
63 min “As a Liverpool fan I am hoping United hang on for at least a point, knowing that my 1990s self will never speak to me again,” says Tim Woods. “It’s a very weird feeling. Sometimes the days of Dirk Kuyt and battling for sixth seem so much simpler.”
62 min De Bruyne’s cross is punched behind for a corner by Onana. It’s headed away by Dalot, but the pressure that City are applying is relentless; I don’t know how you resist it. We’ve seen this storyline played out so many times before.
59 min: Man City substitution Julian Alvarez comes on for Jeremy Doku. Alvarez will play as one of the No8 with Bernardo Silva moving to the left wing.
58 min There’s a break in play due to a flare being thrown onto the field.
57 min Erik ten Hag has been booked for complaining about the City goal. He thought Rashford was fouled by Kyle Walker in the build up. It didn’t look like a foul, not even close, although it’s odd that Rashford went down because he would have been through on goal again. Maybe he didn’t fancy a race with Kyle Walker.
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Rodri gave Foden a routine pass 22 yards from goal, to the right of centre. Foden cut across Lindelof, on his left foot, and arrowed a thrilling drive that flew across Onana and into the top corner. What a goal!
GOAL! Man City 1-1 Man Utd (Foden 56)
A belting goal from Phil Foden!
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55 min A dangerous United break ends with Rashford falling over after a challenge from Walker. I don’t think it was a foul. It looked like Rashford ran out of steam after… never mind that…
54 min “Rob, what are you doing to me with this nostalgia?” says Niall Mullen. “Guadalajara’86, Dumitrescu and co. from 1994? Next you’ll be talking about the glorious Czech team of 2004 to get me properly misty eyed. Has no one ever told you that ‘remember when’ is the lowest form of conversation?”
The puss on him at the start of that video!
53 min United keep the ball for a little while, with every player looking for a pass in behind. They can’t sychronise it so they keep possession or another 30 seconds or so until Dalot’s pass it cut out by Bernardo Silva.
51 min Not for the first time today, City’s fans complain about United’s timewasting. As Mark Gillespie said at half-time, United have to do more in possession – they’re just giving the ball back to City and retreating into their 4-2-4-0 shape.
49 min The diving Onana gets an important touch to divert Doku’s deflected cross-shot away from Foden at the far post. Without his intervention, Foden would have an open goal.
47 min “That was indeed a staggering miss by Haaland,” says Matt Dony. “But these happen. Because people make mistakes. A referee makes a stupid mistake, and everyone bangs on about either corruption and fixing, or absolute incompetence. Referees should be able to turn it back on the players. Andy Madley should give an interview after the game; ‘We’re supposed to be refereeing in the best league in the world. This is the top level. Misses liked that just aren’t acceptable. The players are letting us down.’”
Heh, quite. The reaction to some refereeing errors this season – and some decisions that weren’t even errors – has been so irresponsible. No matter how angry we are, no matter how grave the injustice, we should never forget that some of these referees are human beings.
46 min Peep peep! Manchester United begin the second half.
“While Utd have defended pretty well, I feel like we’ve see this game before, with Utd trying to hold them at bay but having fewer and fewer attacks, and it only ends one way,” says Mark Gillespie. “I’d be amazed if City don’t win this unless ten Hag can find a tactical answer to getting Utd up the pitch more often.”
Yeah, the second half of the first half was painfully one-sided. Another problem for United is that they don’t have many options on the bench. I’m sure Antony will come on at some stage but he’s not the quickest, and United’s tactics are dependent on runs in behind.
“For all the criticism that Onana has received this season, in the league he’s actually been pretty good,” says David Wall. “Most of his absolute shockers (and there were plenty) seemed to come in the Champions’ League. I think the memory of that overshadows how important he’s becoming for United. He’s pretty high in the list of clean sheets in the Premier League, and is making some crucial saves. Perhaps if they get some defenders who are confident accepting the ball deep then next season they might see some of the distribution that he was so noted for at Inter.”
Apparently he’s very high on the xG table for keepers as well, possibly top. I know xG isn’t gospel but that must say something. I’m still not sure about him, from what I’ve seen, though I agree he has been judged prematurely. He has been better than David de Gea was in his first season at United, and de Gea went on to become United’s best player for a five-year period.
Half-time reading
Half time: Man City 0-1 Man Utd
Pep Guardiola has a slightly weird, smiley, wild-eyed exchange with the fourth official, then Andy Madley blows his whistle to end a thrilling, slightly peculiar half.
United lead through a spectcular goal from Marcus Rashford, who had a couple of opportunities to extend their lead. But City were a threat throughout, never deviating from their gameplan, and had a few chances to equalise before Erling Haaland – the very same – missed an open goal on the stroke of half-time.
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45+2 min United are hanging on desperately. De Bruyne wanders over the left, plays a give-and-go with Bernardo Silva and screws a dangerous cross that is poked just wide of the near post by Varane. City have played some gorgeous football in the last 20 minutes.
45 min Three minutes of added time.
45 min: A miss of the season contender from Erling Haaland! Rodri, 18 yards from goal, clips a languid, penetrative pass towards Foden on the other side of the area. He cushions a precious header back across to give Haaland an open goal – and he somehow volleys the ball over the bar from three yards. That’s staggering. That’s a can’t-spake job.
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44 min A considered cross from Bernardo Silva just evades the stooping Haaland at the near post. Mainoo then wears a Foden shot right in the kisser and stays down, a little dazed. The City fans boo, thinking he’s timewasting, but that’s not true.
42 min City are increasingly dominant as half-time approaches. Walker’s header back across the harea is only half cleared by the stretching Casemiro. De Bruyne charges onto the bouncing ball, 25 yards from goal, but blooters it into orbit.
Another stat for you. Passes in the final third: Man City 177-22 Man Utd. United haven’t had an attack of note in almost 20 minutes now.
40 min “Speaking for myself and few (many?) other Liverpool (and probably Arsenal) supporters - that Rashford goal represents the first time I actively whooped with delight at something going well for Man Utd…” says Tony Barr. “If only he hadn’t air-kicked the other big chance. 2-0 would be quite the test of nerves for Pep & Co…”
39 min The xG score (Sky Sports version) is Man City 1.59-0.22 Man Utd. I think Erik ten Hag will be frustrated that United haven’t got in more because there is a whole lot of green grass behind that defence.
38 min Haaland, by contrast, has been very quiet so far and is unamused when the referee penalises him for a challenge just outside the United area.
37 min De Bruyne looks right on his game. He beats a man with disdainful ease on the right and shoves a pass into Foden, 12 yards out. He takes a quick touch and drives a shot that is well blocked.
36 min “I’m a bit confused about this game,” says Eagle Brosi. “I think City have played much better but I also think Rashford should have a hat-trick. It’s hard to believe the game is 0-1, it would be science fiction if it were 0-3 yet... I think it should probably be.”
I know what you mean. One of the Sky pundits said recently that Man Utd are the only team in the world who could get battered and win 6-0. They actually remind me a little bit, only a little bit, of that thrilling Romania team at the 1994 World Cup.
35 min De Bruyne drags wide with his left foot from the right side of the area. City are starting to find some eyes in the United needle.
33 min: Good save by Onana! A wicked first-time cross from De Bruyne is hooked away desperately by Varane, facing his own goal six yards out. The ball goes straight to Rodri, who cuts across a volley from 18 yards that is scrambled round the post by a diving Onana.
That was a terrific effort from Rodri because came to him quickly and at an awkward height.
32 min Doku cuts inside from the left, then slips as he tries to cross. The ball loops up and is headed back across his own area by Casemiro. Haaland gets to the ball first but heads over from 10 yards. There was no pace on the ball, and he was stationary, so it wasn’t a great chance.
31 min United kill some time in the City half for maybe the first time in the whole match. They’ve done really well so far, and there’s only an hour plus added time to go.
30 min Doku slices wide from 15 yards after a return pass from Bernardo Silva. He was slightly off balance and might have slipped as well.
We’ve finally seen a replay of the Foden chance in the 19th minute. It was a good save from Onana with his left hand; the shot wasn’t straight at his chest.
29 min “Afternoon, Rob,” says Ian Copestake. “I speak to you as I pay homage to Mexico ‘86 as I am following from behind a sofa in Guadalajara. It sounds like the only thing missing from the Rashford goal was something the locals here would rarely see, namely rain spraying off the bar when the ball went in off (of) it.”
Guadalajara you say.
27 min Yep, it’s 9-2 to City on corners. John Stones, incidentally, is spending about 90 per cent of the time in what is a very crowded midfield. Both teams effectivelly have four central midfielders.
26 min One corner leads to another, which is cleared a little uncomfortably by United. I reckon City have already had eight or nine corners.
25 min There’s a brief VAR check for a City penalty when Doku’s cross hits the arm of Dalot. It was by his side so play continues with yet another City corner.
23 min: Another chance for Rashford! Fernandes, on the left, angles a dangerous ball behind the City defence. It’s just in front of McTominay on the edge of the area but reaches Rashford, who fresh-airs a shot when the ball bounces up beyond the far post. The case for the defence is that is that he was slightly off balance, and the ball bounced a little awkwardly. But even so…
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23 min De Bruyne wins another corner for City, who are pinning United back in their inimitable style. It’s a fascinating game because United are genuinely dangerous in transition.
21 min “Surely the hardest thing about being a United fan in the 6,000 years since Fergie retired is whereas we always used to be the ones who scored in injury time, now it’s always someone else (Exhibit A: Liverpool yesterday),” says Nick Parish. “I confidently predict we will still be 1-0 up in the 89th minute. And still lose.”
Could be worse. At St Mirren yesterday, Neil Warnock’s Aberdeen were 1-0 up at the end of the four added minutes, and they still lost 2-1.
19 min: Very good save by Onana! This is great entertainment. De Bruyne puts Foden clean through on goal with a simple pass, at least for him. Foden runs to the edge of the area and screws a right-footed shot that is blocked by Onana, arms out in the Schmeichel pose. We haven’t seen a replay but at first glance it looked a good save rather than a poor miss.
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17 min: Chance for United! Bernardo Silva’s shot on the turn is blocked by Varane. United break and Fernandes puts Rashford clean through on goal after a slip from Dias – but he leaves the ball behind and Walker is able to clear.
That won’t show up on xG but it was a great chance. It didn’t bounce awkwardly, it was just a lazy header from Rashford. See, he’s too relaxed!
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15 min: Good save by Onana! City respond as you’d expect. Bernardo Silva helps the ball across the area to Foden, whose right-foot shot is kicked away by Onana. It wasn’t the easiest chance for Foden as he had to wrap his foot round the ball on the run.
14 min That was such a clean strike from Rashford, hit with beautiful technique. It was like he was showing off in training, seeing who could make the purest contact. The point I’m struggling to make is that it was such a relaxed strike, no tension at all.
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12 min Ake gives away a cheap corner, which Ederson punches away a little awkwardly. City are briefly rattled.
GOAL GIVEN! Fernandes, who was close to offside but being played on by Ake on the far side, ran onto a long goalkick from Onana and shielded the ball from Dias on the edge of the area. He turned and laid the ball back to Rashford, who ran onto the ball from deep and rifled a languid first-time shot from 25 yards. It flew past Ederson, hit the underside of the bar and bounced into the net.
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I think this might be disallowed for offside…
GOAL! Man City 0-1 Man Utd (Rashford 8)
That is a banger from Marcus Rashford!
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8 min After a long spell of City possession, De Bruyne’s cross is headed up in the air by Evans and claimed by Onana.
6 min United get behind City’s high line for the first time. McTominay cushions a pass into the space for Garnacho, who scoots away from Ake in the inside-right channel. Ake does well to get back and deflect Garnacho’s cross into the hands of Ederson.
5 min City have started very well. There is a certain logic in the United formation, especially keeping Rashford and Garnacho wide where it is easier to get them in behind the defence. It’s a brave decision from Erik ten Hag because he’ll get pelters if they lose, even though they are probably going to lose regardless of the formation.
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3 min De Bruyne threads a lovely disguised pass into Stones, wandering into the area in open play. He cuts a defender and is about to shoot when Casemiro gets a slight but vital touch on the ball. City appeal for a penalty but there’s nothing in that.
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2 min City win a very early corner, which leads to another when Foden’s long-range shot deflects behind. United’s shape is fascinating, basically 4-2-4-0. They tried this under Ralf Rangnicktwo years ago and lost 4-1, although they played quite well in the first half from memory.
Man Utd (4-2-4-0) Onana; Dalot, Varane, Evans, Lindelof; Casemiro, Mainoo; Garnacho, Fernandes, McTominay, Rashford.
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1 min Peep peep! City kick off from right to left as we watch. United have started with a box midfield, two wingers and no centre-forward.
“Lovely to have that update on the Utd diamond formation,” says Jeremy Boyce. “Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, Amber, Jade(on) ? Will it actually make any difference? We all know who’ll be picking up the silverware in May/June. 1-0 Utd then?”
Football is a funny old game. And it’ll need to be for United to win and keep a clean sheet.
A reminder of the teams
Man City (possible 4-1-2-3) Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Ake; Rodri; De Bruyne, Bernardo; Foden, Haaland, Doku.
Substitutes: Ortega, Gvardiol, Akanji, Lewis, Kovacic, Gomez, Nunes, Bobb, Alvarez.
Man Utd (possible 4-D-2) Onana; Lindelof, Varane, Evans, Dalot; Casemiro; Fernandes, Mainoo; McTominay; Garnacho, Rashford.
Substitutes: Bayindir, Kambwala, Ogunneye, Amrabat, Eriksen, Forson, Collyer, Diallo, Antony.
Referee Andy Madley.
Erik ten Hag’s pre-match interview
We have a few players with physical problems who have really fought to be part of this game. Jonny Evans is one of them – he wanted to play and this is the strongest back four we have available.
[On his tactics] Sometimes we want to overload the midfield. We know they have a high back line. We have a lot of speed with Garnacho, Rashford, then Scott McTominay from the second line and Diogo Dalot from the third. We have a lot of options there.
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Sky Sports, who tend to have more inside information than your humble Guardian, think a) United will play with a diamond and split strikers and b) Diogo Dalot will play at left-back. This is how they have the United formation.
Man Utd (4-D-2) Onana; Dalot, Varane, Evans, Lindelof; Casemiro; Fernandes, Mainoo; McTominay; Rashford, Garnacho.
Substitutes: Bayindir, Kambwala, Ogunneye, Amrabat, Eriksen, Forson, Collyer, Diallo, Antony.
Pep speaks
We know the strengths and qualities they have. [What are they?] The manager, Erik, knows the plan better than me. We’ll try to work it out as soon as possible and use the right doses of energy – not too much, not too little – to try to perform well.
When [Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, who both start] perform at a high leve, it’s an incredible weapon for us. Jeremy [Doku] has been amazing this season, especially for his first season. We need somebody who can dribble in the final third and he has this quality.
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Full time: Burnley 0-2 Bournemouth
The early Premier League didn’t go to plan for City legend Vincent Kompany, whose Burnley side were again beaten. John Brewin has more.
Jamie Jackson on Bruno Fernandes
Jonathan Wilson on Erling Haaland
Our survey says…
Team news
Pep Guardiola makes three changes from City’s last league game, a 1-0 win at Bournbemouth eight days ago: Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku replace Manuel Akanji, Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes.
Erik ten Hag has made two changes from the league defeat at home to Fulham. Jonny Evans comes in for the injured Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay replaces Omari Forson. That means some form of tactical switch – either a midfield diamond or Bruno Fernandes playing on the wing.
Man City (possible 4-1-2-3) Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Ake; Rodri; De Bruyne, Bernardo; Foden, Haaland, Doku.
Substitutes: Ortega, Gvardiol, Akanji, Lewis, Kovacic, Gomez, Nunes, Bobb, Alvarez.
Man Utd (possible 4-1-4-1) Onana; Dalot, Varane, Evans, Lindelof; Casemiro; Fernandes, McTominay, Mainoo, Garnacho; Rashford.
Substitutes: Bayindir, Kambwala, Ogunneye, Amrabat, Eriksen, Forson, Collyer, Diallo, Antony.
Referee Andy Madley.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium. On paper, this is a mouthwatering prospect. City are on a run of 14 wins in 15 games; United have won their last six away from home. In reality, few people of sound mind give United a prayer. Last season they lost 6-3 at City and were flattered, seriously flattered, by the scoreline. The days of regularly winning at the Etihad are long gone; Ole Gunnar Solskjaer isn’t the manager any more.
The only metric (drink!) in which United trump City is, alas, the number of injuries. They are without at least three and arguably six of the side Erik ten Hag would like to play today, which makes things look even bleaker on the slim-to-noneometer.
All logic points to a City win, possibly a whopper. But football doesn’t always do logic, which is why this could yet be the greatest game you’ll see in your entire life. Best keep refreshing the page just in case.
Kick off 3.30pm.
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