Manchester United have been the comeback kings under Jose Mourinho this season. However, trailing against Manchester City in the upcoming derby will be a mountain the Red Devils won’t be able to climb.
Manchester United’s 3-2 comeback against Manchester City in last season’s derby is arguably our best game in the post-Fergie era.
Jose Mourinho’s men found themselves trailing 2-0 at halftime at the Etihad after goals by Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan. If the score remained in City’s favour at full time – which seemed highly likely at that point – they would’ve won the Premier League title against us on their home turf.
However, United went into the second half determined to turn things around – and boy did they do that.
Paul Pogba answered his critics by finding the net twice before Chris Smalling of all people scored the winner with a striker’s finish, sealing an unbelievable comeback that saved United from embarrassment.
Sound familiar?
Yep, United have only gone and done it again this season, albeit against a far smaller opponent in far less pressing circumstances.
The 3-2 comeback against Newcastle United this season after similarly going 2-0 down in the first half shows that United have still got it. However, don’t expect us to do the same if we find ourselves in a similarly tricky situation this weekend.
Pep Guardiola’s side will have learnt from their mistakes in last season’s derby and will not be as complacent this time around. If we concede one or two goals against this City side, expect the floodgates to open. Hard.
Indeed, The Cityzens have just scored six goals back-to-back in their last two games. When’s the last time we’ve even scored five? Exactly.
Instead of going gung-ho from minute one, United need to avoid conceding first and foremost. Thankfully, Victor Lindelof and Chris Smalling are beginning to look like a solid centre-back partnership. We should aim to keep a clean sheet whatever it takes, and should only try and score on the counter.
Should the Red Devils keep this mind, there’s no reason why we can’t get the win on Sunday.
Catch Manchester City vs Manchester United on Sunday 11 October at 16:30 GMT.