Champions-elect City give up bragging rights to clinical United
Reading Time: 2min | Sun. 07.03.21. | 19:20
Manchester United scored early in each half to shock their rivals City at Etihad Stadium
It’s not about how much of the ball you’ve got but what you do with it. Pep Guardiola and his table-topping side were reminded of the old adage by their bitter rivals Manchester United. The Red Devils may have lost the title race already, but their fans will be in dreamland after their team proved lethal in the enemy territory as they battled bravely to an unlikely 2-0 victory.
Gabriel Jesus is making a habit out of starring for Manchester City recently. But he made himself key figure of the 185th Manchester Derby on Sunday evening. The Brazilian striker committed a foul in his own box within 60 seconds of the kick-off, tumbling down Anthony Martial. Bruno Fernandes make the most of the gift as he beat Ederson from the spot to give his team the perfect start.
City were shell-shocked and were lucky to escape with only a single-goal deficit after gifting an opportunity to Rashford and Shaw to combine in their area. They enjoyed the vast majority of the ball possession, but couldn’t turn their attacks into goals.
The Red Devils defended well and restricted Pep Guardiola’s side to long-range efforts from Oleksandr Zinchenko and a dangerous Kevin De Bruyne free kick. The hosts have had a penalty claim of their own after Fred appeared to have fouled Raheem Sterling, but the referee remained silent.
Things went from bad to worse for City five minutes after the restart when Luke Shaw sped down the pitch and played a quick one-two with Marcus Rashford before finding the bottom corner to score only his second-ever Premier League goal. What a time to get on the scoresheet!
FT: Manchester City 0-2 Manchester United
— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 7, 2021
City's winning run is over at 21 matches ❌ pic.twitter.com/AY1W7IpkD3
City continued to attack and United still had the better chances with Martial missing a golden chance to land what would surely have been the knockout blow with 20 minutes remaining.
The Citizens have got a timely reminder that the title isn’t theirs just yet and Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer proved the doubters wrong that his team can perform in big matches. The only trouble is – they left it too late.
PREMIER LEAGUE ROUND 29
Saturday
Burnley - Arsenal 1-1 (1-1)
/Wood 30 - Aubameyang 5/
Sheffield United - Southampton 0-2 (0-1)
/Ward-Prowse 32 pen, Adams 49/
Aston Villa - Wolverhampton 0-0
Brighton & Hove Albion - Leicester City 1-2 (1-0)
/Lallana 10 - Iheanacho 62, Amartey 87/
Sunday
WBA - Newcastle United 0-0
Liverpool - Fulham 0-1 (0-1)
/Lemina 45/
Manchester City - Manchester United 0-2 (0-1)
/Fernandes 2 pen, Shaw 50/
22:15 Tottenham - Crystal Palace
Monday
21:00 Chelsea - Everton
23:00 West Ham United - Leeds United
