When was the last time we had a Manchester derby in these conditions? For decades, it’s either been a battle to prove which of the two reigns supreme in this country, or, more often than not, it’s been a chance for a groveling team to at least take a little pride by turning itself around. their smug superior neighbor.
This time around, both City and Manchester United are playing in the shadow of the Premier League’s ivory tower, which neither can currently call home. Defending champions Manchester City may be eight places ahead of United, but their form has been exceptionally poor in recent weeks and the home fans are clearly worried. Losing to Manchester United was indeed an unbearable insult.
Regardless, trying to rate the job Ruben Amorim has done in his first few weeks at the club is difficult given the magnitude of United’s problems and the high level they aspire to return to. However, City are clearly the better team on paper and we can’t call City winning the corner a real turn of events for Guardiola. As a result, conclusive analysis is always ambiguous: a victory for either side might just as easily be attributed to a shortcoming on the part of the opponent.
And yet, somehow, through it all, these two aspects lead us to one big, clear conclusion about their current situation: they are Both Kind of bullshit.
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It took United 32 minutes to get a shot on target, a speculative long-range shot directed at the defender. Both times they looked dangerous, and both times actually went into City’s favor with Amad Diallo already miles offside – one of which saw him shoot wide when one-on-one with Ederson, and anyway, the flag It still rose.
It would be another four minutes before City (who had three shots on target, none of them) actually got a good pass into the United penalty area, and even then it was only thanks to Kevin De Bruyne coming from a poor Huge deflection from the short corner. Hitting Amad’s calf and looping into the penalty area, Josko Gvardiol headed home unmarked.
You don’t always expect a free-flowing quality to a derby match, but even by that standard this is an incredibly difficult watch; you at least expect a bit of excitement.
The first half came alive with some meaningless handbags after Kyle Walker tripped Rasmus Hojlund, before the Danes were tied with Tom Daley Tom Daley felt proud after a forehead-to-head clash sparked a brief temper tantrum among the 22 players. .
But other than that, the contest remained eerily uneventful, with both sides looking more afraid of further embarrassing themselves than emboldened by the possibility of glory.
It was particularly puzzling for United after falling a goal behind. They carried on playing for much of the game as if they hadn’t registered a City goal and were happy to keep playing for a goalless draw. Bruno Fernandes, who scored their only goal of note in an extremely dull second half before an incredible finish, also fired that shot wide when he was one-on-one with Ederson. column.
At least for Manchester City at the moment, “don’t make any mistakes” can be seen as a reasonable strategy to watch the game end. But regardless, it’s almost sad to see them reduced to this, with the ever-willful Kevin De Bruyne clearly a shadow of his former self, and Ilkay Gundogan’s half-effort showing that Why City were so happy to leave last year and a general there was an air of listlessness that pervaded the entire show.
Of course, only that error did happen. Amad grabbed a stupid back pass, scored the ball and was hit Matheus Nunes was in the box and Fernandez sent Ederson the wrong way.
And then, the hilarious moment of truth: a sweep across the top of the ball, with Gascoigne-esque skill from Amad, who looped the ball past Ederson and fired in from a tight angle, with poor Gwadiol The back heel tries but fails to stop it from running. Crossed the line.
United didn’t do anything to deserve victory, but City didn’t do either. The only real quality in this match was the decider, and that’s probably true.
Guardiola has rightly earned praise over the years for ensuring that his teams are never satisfied with their mountain of trophies and always go straight back in search of more. But in the past, these players would never have looked so happy in the 1-0 win over Manchester United. United did nothing to deserve a win in 85 minutes, but City still got what they deserved.
City don’t have that fire going into this game, and if you can’t play a quality team in a local derby, you wonder if there’s anything short of radical changes that can reignite the flame? That flame.
For United… well, this might just be the little spark on the touch paper they need. Their problems are still there and will take a lot of time to work out – but at least for the next few months, they’ll be walking a little higher next to their blue-clad companions.
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