'Their intelligence & resilience was key' - how Man City earned 'statement win'

· BBC-PL

Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy explains how Manchester City beat Manchester United at Old Trafford despite being down to 10 men for most of the game.

United hit the post again in the second half, with Kobbie Mainoo's shot from distance, but they did not really create a clear-cut chance until Gianluigi Donnarumma saved from Bryan Mbeumo right at the end of the game.

Other than that, their decision-making in the final third wasn't great. They were shooting from silly angles or, when they got in some good wide areas and put the ball in, there were not enough numbers in the box.

United could also have changed their team around and brought on Benjamin Sesko earlier than they did, while I thought Rashford should have stayed on instead of Matheus Cunha because he was more of a threat.

But whatever United did try, City managed the game brilliantly.

Even at the time, I thought their winning goal really shouldn't have stood, because Enzo Fernandez impacts play and should have been ruled offside, but their defensive display was outstanding, and not just from their back four and central midfielders.

Carrick made two substitutions during Sunday's derby, replacing Youri Tielemans with Sesko after 67 minutes and then bringing on Joshua Zirkzee for Rashford after 83 minutes

'Ndiaye gave City an extra dimension'

City were also superb further up the field. Antoine Semenyo and Erling Haaland were keeping the ball when it was played up to them, as well as winning free-kicks or beating people.

When he came on for Rayan Cherki, Iliman Ndiaye again did all of that brilliantly. He gave them a different dimension, and was a big reason they won the game.

That substitution was a clever one by Maresca and brave too, because while Ndiaye is better than Cherki defensively, he is also a ball-carrier who travels with the ball better too.

I remember Maresca making a couple of negative substitutions this time last year when his Chelsea side went down to 10 men early on at Old Trafford.

They ended up losing the game and he got a bit of criticism for it, but this time he went with Ndiaye, and it worked a treat.

He gave them an outlet and made some great runs - he was part of everything they did positively from an attacking point of view and was even involved in the goal - but also did his share of defending, and winning the ball back.

As the game went on, it looked like United were the ones who looked tired despite having the extra man for so long.

Maybe that was down to them playing on Thursday night, while City had their Champions League game on Tuesday, but it was not just energy that United were lacking.

They simply did not have the know-how to cause City problems. Let's not forget Donnarumma's late save because it was a brilliant stop, but Maresca's men were comfortable most of the time.

Read the original

People in this story

Related