City! What a performance! Man City win the 199th Manchester derby, with Erling Haaland netting his ninth goal against the Red quarter of the city.
I though we were superb throughout. Of course, United had quite a bit of the ball but were unable to do anything with it. Defensively we were superb and the midfield pair of Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez was everything a derby day midfield needs - tenacious, full of energy and great link up between defence and attack.
Like most derby days, there were a couple of high profile talking points which will be discussed amongst the many pundits, and fans, over the next few weeks.
Let's talk about the first, Phil Foden's red card. Bruno Fernandes kicks Foden on the back, with Foden seemingly kicking back out in frustration. Foden gets the red, Fernandes gets nothing. I said on our X.com page at the time that I thought both should be sent off, but I've changed my mind. Foden doesn't really kick out, whatever it is it's certainly not violent conduct and Fernandes' reaction is what gets him sent off. If either is a red, it's the kick from Fernandes! A yellow card each would've sufficed.
But no matter! Even with 10 men, City looked the better side. Calm in possession, battling for everything out of possession, the Blues limited U****** to just two shots on target after that red card. What a save from Gianluigi Donnarumma at the very end! We were simply sublime.
Then, the second talking point - Haaland's winner. What a finish, by the way, but that's what we've come to expect from the best striker in world soccer. Of course, everyone is pointing to the fact that Enzo Fernandez was offside, which he was, and he was interfering with play, which he was. Makes the winner a bit sweeter for me in all honesty. Remember the Rashford/Fernandes goal a couple of seasons back? We'll call it payback shall we?
If I was a U****** fan (and I thank the Lord and the Jones family that I'm not), I'd be more concerned with how my side were beaten by a team who were down to 10 men for three quarters of the game. Not only beaten, but comfortably out-performed.
This was Enzo Maresca's first big test of his City managerial career, one he passed with flying colors. In particular, the decision to bring on Iliman Ndiaye was genius. I was unsure of the value in doing so, I thought O'Reilly might come on and we'd move Semenyo to the right hand side. Or, Bouaddi would come on to solidify the midfield. Or, we'd keep Cherki on and move him across to the right. But that's why Maresca is in charge of the best club in the world and I just write about them.
Ndiaye was sensational.
Every player on the pitch was sensational.
Player ratings: everyone gets a 10 out of 10, except for Marc Guehi and Elliot Anderson, who both get an 11 out of 10.
Putting in a performance like that and winning the derby? We really are the pride of Manchester.
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