Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the Premier League clash between Manchester United and Manchester City, being played at the Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester.
Match Report: Rashford scores the winner as Man United beats Man City 2-1 in the Premier League
Full Time! Manchester United 2-1 Manchester City
90+1’ Triple change for Manchester United!
Yellow Card! Fred fouls Grealish in a rash tackle and the Brazilian gets into the book. Lisandro Martinez looks to be getting ready to come on as Casemiro may be the one making way for the defender.
Haaland gets the ball in the box and he tries a shot with his left foot and goes down. Pep demands a penalty, but the referee, who did not give a foul initially, is checking with VAR now.
82’ Goal! Rashford puts Man United ahead
80’ Goal! Manchester United equalises
Man United tries an attack with Garnacho getting the ball along the left flank and before he could the cross, Rashford pulls Rodri down for a free kick to Man City.
United is sequestered in its own half as Pep Guardiola’s City, with a slender lead, continues to press high and keep Ten Hag’s men on the backfoot - something it has done convincingly in the second half.
Mahrez is fouled by Shaw this time and City gets a free-kick while Man United replace Eriksen with Garnacho.
Manchester City starts an attack on the counter, with Grealish driving the ball into the Man United half after a touch by De Bruyne and Fred intercepts to stop the final pass which is greeted by a grin from Grealish.
United is enjoying a decent spell of possession for Man United, which sees Wan Bissaka shoot from distance and gets a corner as the blue wall deflects the ball out of play.
Foul! Eriksen fouls Grealish in a bid to win the ball and gets into the book for the late challenge. First yellow card of the match and the frustration of conceding may just be reflecting on the team’s dwindling discipline.
60’ Goal! Manchester United 0-1 Manchester City
Manchester City makes a change as Phil Foden is replaced by Jack Grealish. Guardiola looks for more attacking options in a match that has failed to see an opening goal in almost one hour since kick-off.
Manchester City has resorted to take back more control in terms of possession in this match after the break as it has over 83 percent possession in the second half.
United attacks on the counter and Antony gets the ball and turns to make a run, but Ake fouls him to give United a free-kick. Shaw takes the free-kick and Varane shoot to force a save by Ederson. But the United defender was offside.
Varane makes a crucial block after Bernardo shoots on target as Ten Hag’s men continue to thwart the attacking attempts of Manchester City, so far in this game.
Bruno tries to break City’s composition with a small jump and a pass to Antony, who makes a lovely turn to run up the pitch. But the linesman raises the flag for offside.
Second Half begins!
Half-Time! Manchester United 0-0 Manchester City
City is knocking on the doors of United’s defence with Mahrez trying to get the ball into the box, but Casemiro makes sure United get the ball back, but United’s attack is eventually cut short with City regaining the ball possession in its half.
Rashford looks to walk around the sidelines as Antony is told to warm-up by Ten Hag. The English forward is eventually back on-field after a brief treatment by the team medic.
Mahrez gets the ball up front along the right wing, passes for Halaand. But no force in that pass at all as Casemiro intercepts to stifle that attack. Foden delivers another misplaced pass as United get on an attack, but Rashford looks to have picked up an injury as the ball lands into Ederson’s gloves.
Miss! Rashford gets another opportunity to run down the left wing. He barges into the box, with the ball glues to his feet, but just then loses control as Ederson’s valiant goalkeeping denies him the opening goal. Only if he would have shot earlier, things may have been different and the United forward screams in regret.
Chance at the other end! De Bruyne delivers a long ball for Foden on his left and the Englishman almost gets to it. Wan Bissaka marks him well to deny any room for attack as Foden’s header is caught by De Gea.
Chance! Man United attacks on the counter, with Rashford getting a delicious diagonal ball. Ederson steps out of the box and is beaten by Rashford, but his shot is blocked by Akanji and in the follow-up, Bruno crosses for Casemiro and the header is finally caught by Ederson.
United starts a counter attack, with Fred passing to Bruno who then gets the ball up the pitch and passes for Malacia. Walker, however, gets the ball first and Malacia goes to ground after what looked like a tangle of legs. The referee, after a VAR check, confirm that no further action is required for that challenge
Eriksen is being marked tightly and he tries to draw defenders to him as he delivers a through ball for Martial or Rashford on either end. But Man City gets to the ball first.
Almost half an hour to the game and Manchester City, which already had a goal to its name in the previous derby, has looked rather thwarted by Ten Hag’s men so far.
Rashford delivers a long diagonal ball for Bruno, which goes past Eriksen to reach Bruno, but Portuguese overruns the ball to see it go out for a goal kick.
Block! Man City striker Haaland tries his first shot on target, with a hit from the edge of the box and Casemiro makes a crucial block to deny any chance to score for the Norway striker.
Off side! Cancelo delivers a long ball from the left for Foden and the England forward receives it well. However, the linesman raises the flag after the ball goes out of play.
Mahrez takes the corner kick for City and Casemiro heads the ball out of danger. De Bruyne tries a shot in the follow-up and this time, Bruno makes a good block.
Cancelo delivers a poor pass to Haaland, which fails to find the striker and the Norwegian is furious with the pass. So is Guardiola. Man City has looked relatively blunt with its passing so far in the game.
Manchester City tries an attack from the back, but his goal kick flies out of play to the cheers of thousands of United fans in the stadium. Kevin De Bruyne carries the ball into the final third, but Fred comes to United’s rescue, putting in a timely challenge and stopping the attack.
United start an attack on the counter, with a long ball to Martial, who makes a run into the box. He is marked well, so he passes for Erkisen, who leaves it for Rashford and by then, City catches up in time to deny a goal from that attack.
11’ Chance! Bruno shoots just wide.
Varane tries to draw City in its half with an interchange of back-passes with De Gea and United get into the box. Martial threads a pass to Malacia on his left, who shoots only to see it saved by a hand. He appeals for a hand ball, but the linesman raises his flag for a United off-side instead.
Cancelo gets a pass from Ake and marches up the pitch and City tries to feed a pass for Mahrez. Again, Malacia is there to intercept and get the ball out of danger.
Walker takes possession of the ball and makes a run in the United half, but Ten Hag’s men press higher to get the ball off following a pass from him for Rodri. However, Ake gets the ball of Martial in the follow-up and puts United’s development to bed with a back pass to Ederson.
Bernardo Silva gets a low cross for Mahrez on the other end, but Malacia gets to the ball and wins the duel against the Algerian to win the ball and pass to Casemiro. The Brazilian gets the ball up the pitch with a forward pass to Eriksen.
Ake is operating at the heart of the City defence as he tries to start an attack from the back. He plays a one-two with Haaland and chooses safety first with a back pass to Ederson.
Bruno Fernandes gets the ball rolling and United decide to go for attack from the beginning. He tries to steal the ball off Akanji and falls over for a foul.
Kick Off!
Minutes to kick-off!
5:40 pm: Why is Lisandro Martinez not starting for Man United?
Lisandro Martinez played a full game for Man United for the first time since returning from the World Cup in the Carabao Cup semifinal, but manager Ten Hag has clarified that he may stand a chance to come on in this match as well.
Talking to BT Sport, he said, “Lisandro Martínez hasn’t played that many games in the last four weeks. In Charlton he played 90 minutes for the first time. It’s a real, big game. We need him today, but we’ll see when. He can contribute to this chain of four and we can use him.”
5:30 pm: Form Guide:
Eight straight wins in all competitions. Nine straight wins at Old Trafford. United, no longer burdened with the baggage that came with having Cristiano Ronaldo in the squad, is brimming with confidence under Erik ten Hag and out to make amends for an embarrassing 6-3 loss to City in early October.
If Arsenal and City win this weekend, they’ll leave United and Tottenham in their wake, with only third-placed Newcastle — which hosts Fulham on Sunday — in touching distance. If they lose, then the top five would suddenly be separated by eight points.
On current form, City is the team that should be most fearful.
Back-to-back wins over Chelsea last week, in the league then the FA Cup, seemed to put City back on track, but a loss to Southampton in the League Cup on Wednesday not only ended the team’s hunt for a quadruple of trophies but raised questions about the strength in depth of Pep Guardiola’s squad in certain areas.
City has dropped points in two of its last four league games — both at home, in a 2-1 loss to Brentford and a 1-1 draw with Everton — and, currently, does not look like the machine that can go on a long winning run to take control of a title race, as Guardiola’s teams have done in the past.
Worryingly, a frail-looking City didn’t even have a shot on target against Southampton, despite sending on Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland in the second half.
Confirmed lineups:
MATCH PREVIEW
The stage has been set for a straight shootout between Arsenal and Manchester City for the English Premier League title and that scenario will become more of a reality if they win their respective derby matches this weekend.
Don’t be so sure on that happening, though.
Indeed, by Sunday night, the number of teams potentially involved in the title race could easily have grown to five heading into the second half of the season.
First up is the Manchester derby on Saturday, when City — looking increasingly unconvincing as the season progresses — faces a Manchester United team riding its best run of results in four years.
“This United side is probably stronger than ever, at least in the recent past,” Gundogan said, “so they are full of confidence, will play great football and we’ll need a much better performance than (against Southampton).”
No Man United manager has reached 20 victories at the club quicker than Ten Hag — he has achieved it in 27 games — but the recent winning run should be put into context given the opponents United has faced, including two lower-league teams in the cups and four of the current bottom six in the Premier League.
City represents a massive step up in quality, though fourth-placed United has already beaten Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham at home this season.
Team News:
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag ruled out Donny van de Beek for the entire season and said Diogo Dalot will not be available for selection for the derby. Anthony Martial remains doubtful.
Besiktas and Burnley striker Wout Weghorst, who is reportedly close to signing on loan for United, will also be unavailable for the clash, as confirmed by the manager.
Manchester City, on the other hand, has John Stones ruled out of the derby.
(with inputs from AP)
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