After what had started as a positive afternoon with a Rashford worldie and some valiant defending from Manchester United, the game quickly soured. Ultimately in the second half after persistent pressure from Manchester City, Guardiola’s side were able to break Manchester United down and win the game quite comfortably in the end.
Here are the player ratings from Manchester United’s Derby Day loss:
Andre Onana (7/10):
Conceded three goals but was one of his better games in United colours, especially in the first half. Played a measured long ball to Fernandes which he laid off for Rashford to finish, and was tidy with his distribution in general. Kept Foden out on a few occasions in the first half and was a big part of the reason United went in still leading at the half. Couldn't do much about any of the goals, but was certainly one of United's better players this afternoon.
Raphael Varane (7/10):
Played well in conjunction with Evans, especially in the first half was getting a head or foot on most crosses that came into the box and kept Haaland relatively quiet for the 90 minutes.
Jonny Evans (6/10):
Played pretty decent until he had to come off in the second half due to an injury. Like Varane, he defended the box quite well when any type of cross came in. Let's hope he has not got a long term injury with the likes of Maguire, Shaw and Martinez still out. United are gradually back down to the bare bones in defence.
Victor Lindelof (6/10):
He is playing out of position at left back and I have sympathy for him having to deal with Foden all game, who was a handful. He probably could have done a bit better letting Foden come inside a bit to easily for their equaliser, and could have got to Foden quicker for the second goal. However, it is incompetence from the board to break Reguilon’s break clause in January that is having a domino effect on Lindelöf playing more games than he should.
Diogo Dalot (6/10):
One of the better players for Manchester United, handled Doku well all game to the point Guardiola subbed him off quite early in the second half. Had a 100% tackle win rate and won 100% of his aerial duels as well as trying to get involved offensively when he could.
Casemiro (5/10):
The whole midfield was a bit sub-par. The Brazilian had a decent first half and played some nice passes the few times we had the ball. However, as the game wore on he was unable to feed our creative players. Was also a bit leggy with their second goal getting beaten off a one-two and was unable to match Foden's run.
Kobbie Mainoo (6/10):
Again, pretty neat performance in the first half in which he won 100% of his duels and won 100% of his tackles. ‘Stockport Seedorf’ ran out of steam in the second half. Mainoo has played a lot of minutes recently and I can't begrudge him too much as the effort and running was there, but struggled to have an impact on City's midfield which most do.
Scott McTominay (5/10):
Really did not have any impact on the game whatsoever, he did put in a nice ball early on to set Garnacho through but was quite sloppy on the ball as were most of our midfield. Can never fault his effort but if he doesn't score, it is hard to measure and justify his impact on the team. Not enough progressive passing and defensively does not do enough for the team.
Bruno Fernandes (6/10):
Started the game very well, making good runs behind the City defence which is where the first goal came from which he assisted for Rashford. Was unlucky to not get another assist if only Rashford could gather the ball from his through ball which could have made it 2-0 and maybe would have been a different result. Put a shift in as he always does but just couldn't get on the ball enough to affect the game in the second half.
Alejandro Garnacho (5/10):
Difficult afternoon for Garnacho, had a chance to provide an assist early on but end product was lacking. After that, neither of the forwards got much in the way of any service throughout the game. Could have potentially won a penalty in the second half but I think that would be clutching at straws. It was the right decision to not to award the penalty on an Edison tackle.
Marcus Rashford (7/10):
Scored a truly outstanding goal to light up this match in the first ten minutes. Really should have gathered the through ball Fernandes supplied him with in the first half because it would have been a different game if so. Rashford seemed to get injured in the first half, although like Garnacho was not getting a lot of quality balls to work with in the second half. The academy product was not quite right for the rest of the game and was subbed for Anthony.
Substitutes:
Anthony (4/10):
Didn't really have any impact at all coming on for Rashford, had the chance to put Garnacho through late in the second half but squandered the opportunity.
Willy Kambwala (6/10):
Came on for the hobbling Jonny Evans and slotted into right back and was decent for the limited minutes he had, with Lindelöf being pushed into centre back.
Sofyan Amrabat (3/10):
Came on with the game pretty much done, but made a huge error leading to Haaland's customary league goal.
Omari Forson: (N/A)
Manager:
Erik Ten Hag (6/10):
Came into the game with a clear game plan (4-1-4-1) to stay compact with Casemiro, Mainoo, Fernandes and McTominay all congesting that midfield. If United had been a bit more clinical after scoring the first goal, it might have ended up being a Ten Hag masterclass.
Unfortunately, City eventually broke United's resolve and they scored the equaliser. There was not much quality off the bench that Ten Hag could call upon with a depleted squad and many youngsters on the bench. A better performance than they put together against Fulham last time out, but the reality is that it is another damaging loss away from home to a top half side. 11 points adrift of a top four finish with 11 games to go, things are looking bleak.
Man of the Match:
Man of the Match: Andre Onana is my man of the match because he kept Manchester United in the game with some really good saves. He prevented 1.16xG in the first half and showed a lot of composure in his long range passing, which lead to our only goal of the game. Onana has become a lot more consistent in his displays since he has been back from African Cup of Nations, and hopefully after one full season under his belt will prove to be a good replacement for David De Gea.