a three-horse race.
The top spot in the Premier League is being contested by only three teams, whereas the Bundesliga does not have such a clear distinction.
In the second period, Manchester United performed better. Phil Foden successfully scored two impressive goals, with the first one being a powerful shot from a distance of 25 yards. In stoppage time, Erling Haaland sealed the victory for the team.
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.
After 90 minutes and 6 extra minutes, City’s substitution Foden was on the ground following a late challenge from either Amrabat or Antony. However, he eventually stands up and is substituted by Oscar Bobb. Despite walking with a slight limp, Foden appears to be fully recovered from the challenge. Can you blame him after a day like today?
During the 90+5 minutes, City played a bit of entertaining football. It was a tough second half for United as they struggled to even gain possession of the ball.
After 90 minutes and 4 seconds, this is the current state of the league table. We are witnessing a highly competitive race for the top spot between three teams, which hasn’t been seen in at least ten years, and possibly even longer.
Sofyan Amrabat, a talented player, has not been performing as well since joining United. He was stripped of the ball 20 yards away from the goal by Rodri. Rodri quickly passed it to Haaland, who skillfully directed the ball into the far corner of the goal with his left foot. It was a precise and effective shot.
Erling Haaland will have a much better night’s sleep tonight!
In the 91st minute, a correction was made that there are actually eight minutes of added time left. However, United is struggling to keep possession and De Bruyne nearly secures the win by shooting 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.
De Bruyne makes a swift move past Kambwala on the left for 88 minutes and delivers a powerful cross that results in Varane deflecting it for a corner. This corner then leads to another, and eventually Varane makes an impressive clearance in his own six-yard box.
City have possession for 86 minutes with clear dominance. United have been humbled despite flashes of good play and causing City some worry. Overall, they have been outmatched.
Kári Tulinius explains that it has become typical for major teams to dominate a match on just one side of the field for most of the game. However, during the 2012 match between Barcelona and Chelsea, this tactic was surprising. Tulinius also believes that Roberto Di Matteo is one of the most impactful managers of the past ten years.
Did you suggest that John Terry was responsible for developing modern football by kicking Alexis Sanchez in the rear end?
In just 82 minutes, Foden has achieved back-to-back hat-tricks at the Etihad stadium in the derby match.
81 minutes have passed in the match, and there has been a substitution for Man Utd. Omari Forson and Sofyan Amrabat are coming onto the field, replacing Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo. Garnacho, who has not been very involved in the game, is being taken off. Mainoo, who has performed well under challenging circumstances, is also being substituted.
City had confidence that they would score by continuing with their successful actions, and their belief was validated. The play began with De Bruyne passing to Foden on the left. Foden then passed it to Alvarez, who quickly returned the ball. City’s player then struck a precise and powerful shot into the distant corner, although Onana was able to touch it, he couldn’t prevent it from going in.
City has without a doubt been victorious in the derby thanks to Phil Foden!
In the 78th minute, Mainoo passes to Garnacho with a precise but forceful pass, setting him up for a scoring opportunity. Ederson approaches with his feet first, even though he is in the penalty area, and successfully takes possession of the ball. However, his follow-through results in him tripping Garnacho. Manchester United believes this should be a penalty, but the referee Andy Madley and the VAR team do not agree. The challenge seemed well-executed, but also potentially risky.
After dominating the game, City is starting to show signs of frustration. However, all of their major opportunities occurred in the first half.
Man Utd makes a substitution, as Antony replaces Marcus Rashford, who scored an impressive goal at the beginning but had difficulties afterwards.
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.
Unfortunately, during the 73 minutes of play with United in a decent spot, Rashford had difficulty changing direction to receive a pass from Fernandes. This has occurred a couple of times today, and it is unclear whether it is due to the condition of the field, his footwear, or neither.
Man United switched up their defensive lineup for 72 minutes, with Kambwala taking the right-back position, Varane and Lindelof in the middle, and Dalot playing on the left.
In the 71st minute, Walker takes a strong shot from far that is initially saved by Onana, but eventually caught on the second try. Onana has shown great confidence throughout the game, and if that results in a mistake or two later on, I apologize like Fabien Barthez in the Highbury stadium.
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.
De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva take turns with the free-kick for 70 minutes, but De Bruyne’s attempt gets blocked by the wall.
At the 69th minute, Manchester United made a substitution, with Willy Kambwala, a teenage defender, coming in for Jonny Evans at centre-back. Good luck, young man.
In the 68th minute, Haaland skillfully evades Evans and powers through Varane near the edge of the D. Varane earns a yellow card for his cynical foul, resulting in a free-kick for City.
After just 66 minutes, it turns out that Onana is capable of carrying on without any issues. Who would have guessed?
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 overlook? I didn’t see it as a violation at all, although it is possible to miss these details while multitasking as you divert your attention to the incorrect screen.
After 65 minutes, Onana rushes out to retrieve a pass and gestures to his team’s bench that he has sustained a minor injury. Gary Neville suggests that he might be stalling for time, as Manchester United has been doing throughout the day, but the referee has to let the medical staff attend to him.
After 64 minutes, Bernardo Silva’s header narrowly misses as he tries to connect with Haaland. A goal seems imminent.
Tim Woods, a fan of Liverpool, expresses his hope for Manchester United to preserve at least a draw for the match. He acknowledges that his younger self from the 1990s would not forgive him if Liverpool were to lose. He also remarks on the nostalgia of simpler times when players like Dirk Kuyt played and they were just fighting for sixth place.
De Bruyne’s pass was stopped by Onana, resulting in a corner. The ball was kicked away by Dalot, but City continues to keep the pressure on, making it difficult to defend against. This is a familiar occurrence in previous games.
After 59 minutes, Man City replaced Jeremy Doku with Julian Alvarez. Alvarez will take on the role of one of the number 8 players, while Bernardo Silva shifts to the left wing.
After 58 minutes, there is a pause in the game because someone threw a flare onto the field.
In the 57th minute, Erik ten Hag was given a yellow card for expressing his dissatisfaction with the City goal. He believed that Kyle Walker had committed a foul against Rashford in the lead-up. However, upon review, it did not appear to be a foul at all. It is worth noting, however, that Rashford seemed to have avoided a potential race with Walker by going down.
Source: theguardian.com
