MANCHESTER, England – In the end, the 192nd Manchester derby had provided a good idea of where the city's two biggest clubs stand.
Manchester City, dominant for much of the afternoon at the Etihad Stadium, won 3-1 to remain in the hunt for a record fourth consecutive Premier League title. Meanwhile, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag decided that the only way his team could match their neighbors was to defend tenaciously and hope for the best, but they still lost comfortably.
Pep Guardiola's side, who fell behind thanks to an early wonder goal from Marcus Rashford, finally showed how good they are, while United showed exactly how much ground there is to make up. United's new investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he wants to knock City “off his perch” but on this evidence it won't happen anytime soon. City are one point behind leaders Liverpool and have a trip to Anfield next, and there is a good chance they will return in May.
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Ten Hag insisted afterwards that the match was closer than it appeared, but even the staunchest United supporter would have struggled to accept his assessment after another derby disappointment.
“No, I do not think so [the result shows a big gap between the teams]absolutely not,” Ten Hag said after the match. “You can see that we have a lot of problems with injuries and yet we had the opportunity [to win].
“Really small margins. We could have scored the second goal at a debatable moment. It's not that big.” [of a gap] and when we have everyone on board we can be competitive. I think we also showed that in the cup final against them. [last season] When it was very close but City is, at this moment, the best team in the world. Do not forget this.”
Ten Hag pointed to a long injury list including Rasmus Højlund, Lisandro Martínez and Luke Shaw as a key reason why he had to line up with Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay disguised as forwards, but even against a team determined to close gaps and break quickly. The city was several streets away.
They went into half-time trailing 1-0 thanks to a Rashford shot that exploded under the bar, but City's 203 passes in the final third, compared to United's measly 17, better reflected what the first 45 minutes went like. was. City had to wait for two goals in the final 10 minutes to secure the victory, but it was telling that they finished the game with 27 shots on goal. United achieved three.
“Football is not just about possession,” Ten Hag said afterwards. “We scored a brilliant goal, but also after that, in the first 20 minutes we had more opportunities. I think we defended brilliantly without possession and the decisive moments were not on our side. We were very close to getting a victory or at least a victory. draw here.”
However, to almost everyone in the stadium there seemed to be a chasm between the teams. City, however, have not had their way this season and, for the twelfth time in the Premier League, needed to respond after conceding the first goal. Only Liverpool have recovered more than their 21 points after losing positions.
There was a moment when Guardiola got so frustrated that he decided to tell the ball boy near the bench that he needed to get the ball back more quickly. But amid all the chaos and tension of a derby, his team was patient and it was worth it.
Foden, the best player on the pitch, scored in the 56th minute and again in the 80th minute. Erling Haaland, who wasted a golden opportunity from close range in the first half, got the points in injury time after after substitute Sofyan Amrabat gave the ball away. to Rodri. The result did not flatter City and Guardiola was left thinking that his team should have scored more.
City have won three consecutive home league derbies, their longest streak since 1955, winning the games by an aggregate score of 13-5. After a hat-trick in his match last season, Foden has scored five of them.
“He is right now, this season, one of the best [in the Premier League]”said Guardiola. “I always had the feeling that he would score goals. Now he's winning games. To become a world class player you have to win games. He has an incredible work ethic, he lives to play football and now he is winning games.”
For City, it was the perfect way to start a tough run of fixtures, with games against title contenders Liverpool and Arsenal before the end of March. After the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie against FC Copenhagen on Wednesday, they head to Anfield next week, although Guardiola immediately rejected the idea of the match being decisive for the title.
“There are still a lot of points to play for and different places to go for the three or four contenders to win the Premier League,” he said.
City are looking for another title, while United are once again searching for answers on how to close the gap.
