15 December 2024
Man City 1 Man Utd 2
Ruben Amorim brought his side to the blue half of Manchester for his first taste of derby action. From an outsider looking in, it was a perfect time to play the defending champions. They look a pale comparison to the side that had dominated the league. Had any other manager been on the recent run of results that Guardiola has, the nest call from ‘Sheikh M’ in his contacts would not be good news.
Aside from his dip in form, you cannot question the abilities of Pep Guardiola. He has achieved so much but has never face such adversity as this. The Spaniard has only managed three of the best sides in Europe, during periods where they didn’t do losing. You wonder whether there is too long for a manager to be at one club.
It sounds a crazy idea but the modern game is very different to the Fergie era. Far more games, the Premier League stronger than it ever has been. You could feel it with Klopp at Liverpool, they had reached the end as club and manger the previous season. The German wanted to leave the club he had fallen in love with in the best position possible, so stayed one more year to rebuild.
As a neutral, you wonder if this is where Pep is right now. It does not diminish his abilities, but things can become stale and players lethargic with the same thing every day. Both managers demand so much of their players it is as hard as any long-term marriage to make work. The big question however may be whether Guardiola is in a place where he wants to undertake that mammoth task.
Sometimes you need to be careful what you wish for as a fan. The visitors had screamed at the top of their voices that they wanted the owners out. They sort of got their wish when this self-proclaimed Messiah to their problems and Man Utd die-hard, wanted to buy roughly a quarter of the club. Fans and the football world were buzzing over news this chemical engineer come billionaire was the missing link.
Ten months down the line, he has sacked Fergie from a club ambassador role, axed most of the stadium staff, cancelled the Christmas party and most importantly announced that ticket prices are going up. This is the football equivalent of cinemas announcing a huge price rise at the end of you watching Joker: Folie à Deux. Timing is everything.
The first-half was a dreadful watch, they looked like two clubs hoping to find former glories. With the quality of action on the pitch, the only real winners were Salford City. Having seen this, their confidence is renewed that it is not impossible that they will be the best team in Manchester soon. Imagine that after a derby win on X…….Manchester is red, white and black.
It was baffling to see how poor City were. Their delivery from set pieces was absolutely dreadful. If you put a football by the rear legs of a cow and pulled its tail, the involuntary spasm of its leg kicking back would have put more quality balls into the Red Devils’ box than the players Guardiola opted for. It is like his team have never played this level of football before.
One such corner saw the ball come back to De Bruyne. His cross took a huge deflection off Amad and fizzed into the box. Fortunately for the hosts, there was one thing at The Etihad that was worse than their quality of delivery……….the Man Utd defence. They are absolutely static at corners and the only wonder is why teams don’t score every time they have one.
Gvardiol had a free header as the visitors’ defenders were more transfixed on their men than the ball itself. Watching this Croatian adorned in sky blue, leaping like some salmon to score against one of the worst keepers in the Premier League. We are left wondering whether we should hate the player or the game when Onana wins awards for his clowning.
With the way the season is going, Pep Guardiola would have taken this result right there and then. They needed some sort of wake-up call, they cannot continue like this. The visitors had not even had a shot on goal. Both managers needed to work miracles during the break. It could not be any worse than what we had witnessed up until this point.
Both teams continued to create half-chances. Amad’s header was well saved from Ederson as he turned it around the post. That was the closest the visitors had come to a goal. It seemed set that Man City would look to hold onto what they had. It wasn’t pretty but the three points were all that mattered. There was only fifteen minutes remaining, the finishing line was in sight now.
Fernandes then missed a massive chance as he looked to lift his shot past Ederson. He got his angles all wrong as it dropped two feet wide of the post. The players and fans all looked resigned to this being a derby defeat. That was until Nunes played a dreadful back pass. Amad intercepted it and to make matters worse, the City midfielder got back to scythe him down in the box.
The Man Utd skipper stepped up and stroked his penalty home with only two minutes of normal time remaining. The away end erupted in an instant. This seemed like it would be a positive result for the new Red Devils’ manager. Hold onto your hat though, the hosts love a bit of last-gasp drama and they did not disappoint.
Martinez clipped a hopeful ball forward and Amad got there before Ederson. As he did, he lifted it over the keeper and slotted home from a tight angle. Man Utd had stunned everyone in the stadium. This was a massive result for Ruben Amorim. Just how much damage this defeat will do to Pep Guardiola’s side, only time will tell.
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