Barney Ronay says United are stuck in a time warp
Jamie Jackson's player ratings
Daniel Taylor's match report
Solskjaer's verdict
He takes the opposite view to Rashford, choosing to accentuate the modest positives. “We got a reaction. In the end we were beaten by a better team. but we got a reaction from the fans and the players, we had a go. We had efforts, but didn’t hit the target many times. But you could see the effort ... Ultimately there was a difference in quality and that’s why they’re top of the league ... We can’t be happy with that and it’s up to us to close the gap.”
“Today you can’t say that any of the players didn’t run ... You could see clearly there was intent and focus. Of course they’re disappointed... Rashy will be important for us, he’s got the right attitude.”
Guardiola's reaction
The City manager says that either of the teams at the top of the table would be worthy champions. “Both deserve the title, Liverpool and ourselves. The team that’s going to lose can’t have regrets because they will have given everything.”
As for today’s game, he says the key to win was a half-time vow to go for broke and the introduction, early in the second half, of Sane. “I understand the pressure we have to still be there [in the race] ... but we spoke at half-time that we have to take a chance and play to win. It doesn’t mater if we lose, we have to try to win.”
“Now we have to go to Burnley and win. I know it won’t be easy. People will talk too much ... Tomorrow we won’t switch on the TV. We have to go there and win.
He also explains the impact that Sane made after replacing Fernandinho. “Gundogan went to holding midfielder more dynamic and aggressive, attacking bylines.”
Rashford says United's performance was unacceptable
United were better than they were against Everton but Rashford says they’re still way below the standard expected. “It was quite clear tonight who the better team was. Today we didn’t play like Man United. It’s been like that for the last couple of weeks in fairness. That’s not right. The bare minimum is to give your all for the club and the fans... It doesn’t matter if [this performance] was better [than recent ones] because we lost the game. It’s the derby and you can’t do that.”
“We’ve shown that we can do it and we’re not doing it... that’s the most disappointing thing. We have to get back to it. Forget the top four, forget the Champions League, we have to play like Man United.”
Sky’s pundit team includes an expert in goalkeeping and, indeed, in goalkeeping errors. Joe Hart reckons that De Gea was not at fault for City’s first goal but was beaten at his near post because Bernardo took his shot so quickly. I think that’s fair. But there can be no explaining away his failure to keep out Sané’s shot for the second goal.
Kompany and Sané react
We didnt start as well as we would have liked ... but we stayed calm and defended well when we needed to In the second half we were there to score goals ... To me [the win is significant because it’s a derby. As for the league, nothing is played yet. Burnley is a difficult away game and then we have Leicester and Brighton at home. There’s still a lot to play for. We shouldn’t expect our opponents to drop points so we have to get three wins. But wins are difficult to get in the Premier League”
Sané says something similar and explains that he was introduced today “to bring more rhythm into the game”. He did that.
A snippet of the post-match discussion between Roy Keane and Gary Neville on Sky:
Keane: “It was an easy night for [City]. I reckon they’re sitting in that dressing room and can’t believe how comfortable it was for them... I don’t know what happened United at half-time. City were much sharper...
Neville: “I think that’s as good as they’ve got.”
Keane: “They had one shot on target at home.”
Neville: “But that’s as good as they’ve got.”
Keane: Look at how Frd let his man run of him for the first goal.”
Neville: “That’s what he is.”
At least United didn’t lose ground on the team above them in fifth place, as Arsenal flopped to a 3-1 defeat at Wolves.
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Full-time: United 0-2 City
City have ascended to the top of the table again thanks to their 11th league win in a row. They know that if they win their final three, there is nothing Liverpool can do to stop them them from taking the title. United briefly threatened to halt their neighbours’ march towards glory but ultimately fell to a manifestly superior team. David De Gea’s feebleness for the second goal didn’t help. It is United’s seventh defeat in nine matches - their worst streak since 1962 - but at least this time they couldn’t be accused of a grievous lack of effort. But they’re short in lots of other areas. They are inferior to many teams in this league and nowhere near the level ofs City. Mind you, nor is anyone else, except Liverpool. There title is not won yet. Liverpool can’t afford to drop any points and hope either Burnley, Leicester or Brighton find a way to throw a spanner in City’s groovy machine. Brendan Rodgers could yet win the title for Liverpool...
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90+2 min: Pogba overhits a long pass. The ball trickles out of play like a visual metaphor of the way United’s threat has faded after a bright start. In the end, they just haven’t been good enough.
90 min: There will be at least four more minutes. Don’t get your hopes up, Liverpool fans.
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City substitution: Jesus and Danilo on, Aguero and Gundogan off
88 min: Shaw booked for a tactical take-down on Sterling. There can be no complaints about that, other than the lack of consistency from the ref.
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86 min: Pogba’s shot from 25 yards is deflected up into the air and over City’s defence. For a moment Rashford thinks he will run on to it. But Ederson read the situation quicker and tears off his line to claim the ball.
84 min: Martial gets his first chance to run from deep. Bernardo tries to take him down him from deep, then Sterling does succeed in stopping the break with a reckless tackle. Those are exactly the type of fouls Solskjaer’s warned about pre-game. “Are we looking at a possible situation where Manchester City wins the League and FA Cup, Liverpool win the Champions League and both seasons are considered disappointments because they won the wrong titles” ventures Bobby Otter.
United substitutions: Darmian and Lingard off, Martial and Sanchez on.
78 min: Silva is playing with with delightful insouciance right now but he might need to worry after the game about what the FA make of his kungfu challenge on Perreira. There’s a risk he could yet cop a ban that rules him out for the rest of the title run-in.
77 min: Bernardo dinks a dainty pass over the top of the United defence towards Silva. Smalling cuts it out ... and smashes it into this face in the process. Luckily for him, the ball rebounds out of play so theres no reason to dig out replays of Chris Brass’s greatest contribution to cheap TV shows.
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76 min: Maybe we shouldn’t write off United just yet. They’re perking up a bit. Rashford is their main mischief-maker, constantly running between the centrebacks. He does that again now and picks up a pass and then plays the ball across the edge of the box to Lukaku. Whose shot is hopeless.
75 min: Having said that, Lukaku has just collected a pass from Rashford after some dodgy City defending. The Belgian burst past Zinchenko at the right-hand side of the box and then rasped a shot towards goal. Ederson beat it away.
73 min: City are well on top now. United look beaten. Not broken, just too limited to take down City now that they’re got into the stride. Liverpool fans need to start pinning their hopes on Burnley, Brighton and Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester.
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United substitution: Lukaku on, Perreira off.
70 min: Bernardo leaps high for an aerial ball in midfield. He wins the header but stretches out his leg and catches Perreira in the ribs with a kungfu kick. It’s almost as if he saw something on the internet today that left him unable to get Eric Cantona out of his mind. Perreira is hurt but should perhaps be thankful Bernardo didn’t mistake hi for an egg. Bernardo, meanwhile, is lucky not to be sent off.
68 min: De Gea is shaking his head, as if trying to dislodge whatever it is that has made him so strangely sluggish in recent months. Liverpool fans, meanwhile, are probably shaking their fists at the telly. City supporters are having a ball in the stands at Old Trafford.
GOAL! United 0-2 City (Sané 66)
United lose the ball in the opposing half and Stering leads a counter-attack, carrying it 40 yards forward before feeding Sané. From the left-hand side of the box, Sané takes a touch and then lashes a low shot straight at De Gea ... and the keeper manages only to help it into the net! It was powerfully struck but the keeper really should have stopped that.
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63 min: Pogba spanks the freekick straight into the wall.
62 min: Bernardo clumps into Pogba in the D of the City box. United have a freekick in a very dangerous spot ...
60 min: The City fans are singing. They sense the title within their grasp. Can United muster one moment of quality to shut them up? And, of course, avoid conceding again. “If I were a United fan, I think I’d be fairly satisfied even if they go on to lose,” admits Matt Dony. “City are the better team, obviously, but United have played so much better than the last few games. They’ve put the effort in, they’ve played some good football, they’ve done what could be reasonably expected. But, I’m not a United fan. I’m a Liverpool fan. And I’m very annoyed.”
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57 min: Panic at the back for City as United threaten to land a blow from nowhere! Kompany made a mess of trying to clear a pass across the face of goal by Rashford, but the defender’s extravagant bungling seemed to distract Lingard, who didn’t react quickly enough to poke the ball into the net from close range!
55 min: Before United can even stammer a response to the first goal, City scream forward for a second. Aguero flies in front the and swaps lovely pass with Sané and Bernardo before cracking a shot inches wide from the edge of the area.
GOAL! United 0-1 City (Bernardo Silva 54)
City have that breakthrough! Silva fires in low at the post from 15 yards, using Shaw as a dummy. De Gea’s dived but couldn’t get down fast enough.
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51 min: Fernandinho appeared to ask for time to recover but Guardiola made the change anyway, as if he had already decided to inject something new into his team’s attack in an effort to break the deadlock and get the goal his team crave.
City substitution: Sané on, Fernandinho off.
50 min: That as a critical tackle by Fernandinho - and maybe a costly one, too. He’s getting treatment for as sore knee. Can he continue?
49 min: Fernandinho keeps pace with a United attack led by Pogba, then makes a splendid perfectly timed sliding tackle in the box on Pogba.
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48 min: Young hoists in a corner from the right. Smalling leaps highest but can’t twist his neck enough to direct his header on the target, sending instead into a thicket of bodies in the six-yard area. City hoof it clear.
46 min: Bernardo Silva goes on a snaking run through the heart of United’s midfield and then nips the ball wide to Sterling. United scramble sufficiently to smother the attack, but the second half has begun the way the first ended, and that doesn’t bode well for United...
46 min: The second half is go. No changes in personnel.
“On a totally related matter, Arsenal are about to forego six consecutive points in the race for the Champions League and you know what? I don’t damn well want them in the Champions League next season,” fumes Andrew McLaughlin. “They are unworthy. They would take the place of a more worthy club. They would be punching bags for the better organised, better disciplined, more talented clubs. The Europa League is their appropriate level. Fifth place is their appropriate level. I look forward to Unai Emery improving the team over time and offloading much of the garbage currently littering the squad. But for now? No, Arsenal do not deserve to be in the Champions League.”
Roy Keane says the key to this game could be United’s ability to get Kompany in one-on-ones. “He’s on a yellow card and his legs are gone,” says Keane. It’s a good point. But with only Otamendi on the bench, a change would probably not make City any more secure.
In a further happy development for United and their pursuit of a top-four finish, Arsenal are currently having an absolute Arsenal at Wolves, where they are losing 3-0 at half-time.
Half-time: United 0-0 City
What an encouraging half for United. And Liverpool. Contrary to expectations, Solskjaer’s side have been true to their word and played with gumption. For half an hour they could even have been said to be the more dangerous side, insofar as they regularly won the ball off City and counter-attack with speed, albeit without creating any gaping openings. But their threat was clear. In the last 15 minutes, however, as United tired, City took control and looked close to a break through themselves, except that their final ball was uncharacteristically rash. Half-0time came at a good time for United. Let’s see what gives after the break. The game - and the title - is in the balance.
46+2 min: Lingard chases back to dispossess Gundogan near the United area. United hurtle forward. Gundogan stays down clutching his shinpad. And United put the ball out, to the anger of their own fans, who saw no call for that sort of compassion. Not did the ref, apparently.
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45 min: United have a chance to spring forward after winning the ball near mid-way - something they have done less frequently in the last 15 minutes. But Pogba touch betrays him as he overruns the ball and loses possession.
44 min: Lovely, intricate interplay by City around and then into the United box. David Silva was very much involved, and Sterling nearly finished it by shimmying past two United players and getting off a slow shot from seven yards. Such virtuosity in cramped spaces! But the shot is straight at De Gea, who reacts quickly to save.
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42 min: A promising break by United - which started with Pogba intercepting a pass by Walker - founders on a hefty touch by Perreira in midfield.
40 min: Gundogan sends a freekick straight out of play, to the annoyance of the City defenders who had ventured up from the back.
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38 min: Sterling receives a pass from Walker with his back to goal 10 yards inside the United half. He turns deftly past Lindelof before being shunted to the ground by Fred, who somehow avoids a yellow card.
36 min: City have got the upper hand now. United’s energy had dwindled a tad, unsurprisingly, and the visitors are hogging the ball and starting to stretch their hosts. But, after good buildup play, a promising attack breaks down after an uncharacteristically awkward first-touch by Sterling.
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34 min: City starting to pen United back. Sterling drifts in a dangerous cross from the let. Lindelof strains to head it away.
32 min: This time it’s City’s turn to launch a rapid counter-attack. Aguero leads it, then feeds Bernardo Silva, who overhits the final pass. City are having most of the ball but there’s no doubt there a little flustered, and they know United can hurt them on the break.
31 min: After some steady probing by City, Sterling floats a hopeful cross from the left into De Gea’s arms.
29 min: Sterling drills a low ball from right through the United box. It was behind two City players and there were none coming in behind them to finish. United exhale.
27 min: Zinchenko booked charging into Rashford in the reckless manner. That gives United a freekick wide on the right. It’s a useful crossing opportunity half-way inside City territory. The visitors set up their line on the edge of the box. Young curls it towards Pogba ... but Fernandinho does brilliantly to slide in and hook the ball clear.
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26 min: Aguero easily eludes Smalling down the left and then digs out a good cross. Lindelof heads it half-away. Bernardo Silva retrieves but mishits his volleyed effort from the rim of the box.
25 min: Perreira booked for catching Zinchenko late near half-way.
23 min: Once again United win the ball in midfield (Fred this time, I think) and quickly feed Rashford. He runs forward and then tries his luck from 25 yards. He unloads a decent, swirling shot but it whizzes a couple of yards over the bar.
21 min: City resume probing. But United are still pressing and winning the ball quickly. The game’s is being played at a clattering tempo, which is making for a gripping spectacle and an uncomfortable experience for City. Can United keep this up?
19 min: United counter-attack at great speed and City are seriously stressed. Lingard races through the centre circle and aims a clever low pass between the two centrebacks. Rashford gets to it at the edge of the box same time as Ederson, who emerges with the ball. And Rashford emerges with a sore leg. But he’ll carry on. Which is bad news for City because he and Lingard are troubling them.
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18 min: Not only have City not scored yet, they have been second best. United have been sharper and their speed and movement on the attack carry a clear threat. And just as I write that, City charge forward and tee up Bernardo Silva for a blast from the edge of the area. De Gea bats it away well. “Hi Paul, do football matches always last this long?” asks Chris Kempshall. “Feels like it’s time for the ref to blow the final whistle.” Liverpool fan, Chris?
16 min: Pogba drops a super diagonal pass from the left over Laporte and into the path of the on-rushing Lingard, who can’t steer his 18-yard shot on to the target.
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15 min: Sterling tries a new and improved version of his move of a moment ago, cutting in from the left and letting fly with a low shot. This time Sterling sticks out a foot to make a block ... and almost deviates it past De Gea! But the defender took enough of the power of the shot to allow the goalkeeper to readjust and make a save.
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14 min: Danger from City, who raid forward through Silva, Aguero and then Sterling. The Englishman tries to skip in from the right-hand corner of the box and fire off a shot, but United are back in numbers and Lindelof makes a good block.
12 min: Pogba picks the ball up wide on the left and unleashes a fierce, swirling shot. It bounces just in front of Ederson, who crouches down and holds it well.
11 min: United continue to press high. Zinchenko, under pressure, knocks the ball back to Ederson, who shanks his kick. United fans sing their praises for their team’s approach . and Liverpool must be enjoying this, too. City are not comfortable.
9 min: Kompany booked for body-=checking Rashford near half-way to stop him completing a one-two with Lingard. That, in fairness, is an example of Solskjaer’s plan coming together.
7 min: United are holding steady so far. City have most of the ball but United are making a conscious effort not to sit to deep and are actually applying pressure in high places. “Souness and Keane: Glum and glummer,” declares Ian Sargeant. “The most joyless double act since Mourinho and a mirror. But still worth listening to.” It’s about picking horses for courses. Keane’s analyses generally tend to be variations on the same old theme. It happened to have some validity on this occasion.
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4 min: City probe around the United box, forcing their hosts to defend deep and in heavy numbers. Sterling tries to wriggle his way past a couple of opponents and into the box. He makes good progress but Fred stays pesky and eventually wins the ball off him. Good play by the much-maligned Brazilian.
2 min: Shaw scurries down the left wing and tries to slip a pass through to Rashford. He overhits it, but it was an encouraging burst for United.
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2 min: Bernardo Silva has started on the left wing. Sterling is on the right ... and his first touch is shoddy, as he miscontrols the ball and allows it to run out of play.
1 min: And they’re off! City get the game going .... and Shane Long’s record remains intact. “I must be one of the only Man Utd fans in the world who wants United to win here,” blurts David Flynn. “”On the basis that I’d like to watch CL football next season and because it would be much funnier for Liverpool to throw it away from a winning position in a few weeks.”
The teams stride on to the pitch to a warm welcome and the strains of Stones Roses’ This is The One. United are wearing their red shirts, black shorts and black and red socks. City are in sky-blue shirts with white shorts and socks. So customs are pretty much respected on a day when City aim to confirm emphatically the reversal of the traditional order in the city ...
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The teams are in the tunnel...
“The best result for football would be a Raheem Sterling hat-trick seeing as how he’s been passed over for the players’ gong, it seems,” reckons William Hargreaves, referring to reports that the PFA players’ player of the year award will be given to Virgil Van Dijk. A Sterling hat-trick would certainly be a good way to underline the folly of picking the winner before the end of the season.
In an interview on Sky Sports, Raheem Sterling is reminded that he hasn’t scored in the 15 matches he’s played against United so far in his career. “In the past I’ve had some chances and maybe it being the team I supported as a child it didn’t help,” he says with good humour. “But I’m looking forward to the game and will do my best to contribute.” Luke Shaw is certainly going to have to have one of his best games to keep Sterling quiet today.
Here’s what one heroic player who worked under Keane is making of today’s punditry ...
I think the mute button is needed tonight 🔇 #MUNMCI
— Jonathan Walters (@JonWalters19) April 24, 2019
“Here is the best result for all concerned,” announces Annie Newton. “A 1-1 draw. Man Utd keep their pride. Man City win the FA Cup to go with the League Cup. And Liverpool get an insignificant parade under the scorching hot May-end sun. No biggie. Let’s make it happen.” Come, come, Annie, you really think Liverpool would go on a street parade just before facing Ajax in the Champions League final?
Keane on Pogba
Sky have just reshown the interview they did with Pogba earlier this week in which he apologised for his team’s display at Everton and vowed to do better. Sample quotes: “The body language is not good enough for this shirt ... We need to got back to basics. Work had, stay in your position, defend. Ask yourself ‘did I do my best’?”
Keane’s reply? “I don’t believe a word he says ... he’s a big problem for United.... He’s a talented player but you need to be more than talented. The really top players make their team play better and he doesn’t do that. He plays for himself.”
Guardiola explains what he wants from his team and what he expects from United: “Be ourselves. We are going to start so strong. After a defeat [United] is going to try extra. And their lineup tells me that. Rashford and Lingard will run in behind, that is what we expect.”
Other Sky pundits are taking up Keane’s theme. “I know the rules have changed and there’s no thuggery any more,” says Graeme Souness. Was that a plaintive note in his voice? “But you can still be work hard and be aggressive. Man United are like a little pussycat, they just had their tummy stroked on Sunday. They have to be better than that.
Meanwhile, back on the email front, here’s some japes and tactical tips from Hubert O’Hearn: “I’m one of those Reds fans who will be watching from behind the couch ... One thing Pep does that I think is flawed is spreading his center backs too wide when City press high. Thus a forward playing off the shoulder of one has a space in which to turn and run. Spurs created at least five opportunities that way, despite scoring none in Saturday’s loss. I would have suggested planting Lukaku in that role in preparation for ‘lump it to the big man’ passes. Lukaku lacks the pace to take the ball and score himself, but from that position he can get it to an on-rushing Rashford or Lingard (I wouldn’t let Martial into Old Trafford let alone on to the pitch).” Solskjaer has other plans, apparently. Guess he’s banking on the mobility of his forwards catching out City if/when they the counter.
Keane denounces United's "bluffers"
More from Keane, who says he is not expecting City to suffer a backlash from a united team eager to reassert their pride: “These are the same players who threw Mourinho under the bus and they will do exactly the same to Ole. There are too many bluffers at this club to get United back to the very top.”
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Roy Keane in in the Sky Sports studio to shed light on what he and Martin O’Neill are doing at Nottingham Forest. He begins by saying he was not surprised by the manner of United’s defeat at Everton because this team has no characters or leaders. Wonder whether the next stop on Solskjaer’s history tour will be to take the leads on a seminar with Keane. “Call me a cynic but on recent form, I think the only question is whether Shane Long’s fastest goal record will survive tonight,” darts Justin Kavanagh. Would that enable Long to set another record by becoming the fastest in Premier League history to lose a record?
We know how City are likely to approach this match – with the intent of crushing their opponents’ resistance as early as possible, ideally with yet another goal inside the first 10 minutes. Solskjaer has been trying to preempt this assault with mind games. First, he tried to put ideas in the referee’s head by publicly claiming that City foul opponents while refusing to let them play out from the back; and secondly, he brought his players for a workout before this match at The Cliff, United’s training ground during their glory years. There’s more than a hint of ghost dancing to that last stunt. But let’s see if it does help raise United’s spirits.
Teams
United make five alterations to the side that was spanked at Goodison Park on Sunday and has also switched system, with the following lot set to be deployed in some kind of back-five makeup. It looks like a containment operation; or, if you prefer, sheer desperation. Darmian is making his first league appearance since January, seemingly as a central defender. As for City, De Bruyne is missing through injury, as expected.
United: De Gea; Young, Darmian, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw; Pogba, Perreira, Fred; Lingard, Rashford
Subs: Romero, Dalot, Mata, Matic, Sanchez, Lukaku, Martial
City: Ederson; Walker, Kompany, Laporte, Zinchenko; Silva, Fernandinho, Gundogan; Sterling, Aguero, Bernardo
Subs: Muric, Danilo, Sané, Mahrez, Otamendi, Jesus, Foden
Referee: A Marriner
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Preamble
Hello. They’ve been playing Manchester derbies since 1881, the year Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson first met and Pat Garrett killed Billy the Kid. And there has never been a United-City duel in a context exactly like today’s. The 178th showdown between the clubs is assured of at least mention in each clubs’ history books no matter how it unfolds. Some shade of glory beckons for both, but deep regret, even ignominy, also lurks. This match has immediate importance to each team’s season and is a bellwether game for what could happen beyond that. And Liverpool are watching in the role of helpless bystanders hoping that United, their fiercest rivals, will do them a favour in spite of themselves. But what if the twist in this season’s title race is that there is no twist? And City just keep on winning.
Pep Guardiola’s men haven’t dropped a point in the Premier League since late January and there’s little to suggest they’re about to slip up now, especially not against a United side who have been in wretched form, with Sunday’s 4-0 defeat at Everton not so much humiliating as contemptible. Everything suggests the gulf between the neighbours is growing. But this is a derby. This is at Old Trafford. City are not perfect and United do have some quality and, presumably, some pride.
United also have a pressing need for points to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League, which they need to reach to help with the renovation they require. Performing today isn’t about helping Liverpool, it’s about helping themselves, even if, for some players, that only means helping themselves to earn a move to a better club. United stars such as David De Gea and Paul Pogba have spoken of their determination to atone for Sunday’s disgrace and show their true faces today. Will that be enough? Will United at least summon enough gumption and skill to worry City and perhaps get the visitors’ nerves jangling? Which of the many gifted players on display here will turn up with their A game? Which team will handle this momentous showdown better? Which manager - the acclaimed genius or the popular novice - will handle it better? So many questions! Soon to be answered. It’s on!
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