Gulf in class as Man United can’t live with slick City
The rights and wrongs of Manchester City’s relationship with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations have been well aired this week but, whatever the balance sheets may or may not tell us, the gulf in class between the city’s two clubs has never been more starkly demonstrated than it was for 90 minutes at the Etihad last night.
Anthony Martial’s sixth goal in his last five Premier League games briefly threatened to make the contest somehow interesting but an outrageous third goal from Ilkay Gundogan, at the end of 44 completed City passes, gave the scoreline a more realistic tilt in the 86th minute of a derby in which City rarely looked keen, or required, to shift up out of third gear.
The sight of Raheem Sterling performing stepovers to see out the clock, correctly, earned him a telling off from Juan Mata and, then his own manager Pep Guardiola, but if ever a player, and his team, were entitled to enjoy their superiority with a bit of showboating, it was here.
“I liked a lot the way he played,” said Guardiola of Sterling.
“And the best way to defend a result is to keep the ball in that situation, with two or three minutes left.
“But he made some movements with his leg and we can avoid that. But he’s young and going to improve.”
As, by the looks of it, is this City team. Indeed, United could have been swept away on a tide of relentless, rolling blue pressure that, surprisingly, only produced one first-half goal for the league leaders.
Indeed, by the time David Silva shot City in front in the 12th minute, United had managed to complete only five passes — and attempted just 11 — in those opening dozen minutes in which City’s possession peaked at 92% at one stage. Finally, inevitably, Sterling crossed from the left, Bernardo Silva did superbly to keep the far-post ball in play, crossing to the centre where Sergio Aguero tangled with Chris Smalling and the pass eventually landed at the feet of David Silva.
The Spanish veteran, a step outside the six-yard area, reacted like lightning, dodged inside and slammed the ball into the roof of the United goal via a deflection off defender Victor Lindelof.
For a United side without the considerable midfield presence of Paul Pogba and with the out-of-sorts Romelu Lukaku left on the bench, it was hard to conceive of a worse start although Bernardo might have provided it, sending the game’s first shot flying just wide with 75 seconds on the clock.
Yet, strangely, the expected deluge never materialised although, in the minutes after the opening goal, Ander Herrera twice lost the ball in dangerous positions, to dangerous people, only to have his blushes spared when, first, Sterling and then Aguero failed to capitalise.
Indeed, by the 25th minute, United even had the audacity to attack, with Smalling placing a header high over the home goal from Jesse Lingard’s cross.
And City’s growing frustration — personified by Guardiola’s tireless Energizer Bunny impression in the technical area — was summed up when Aymeric Laporte unleashed a hopeful, and hopeless, shot from 30-plus yards that was never going to concern David de Gea.
Still City probed, of course. Fernandinho, pulling the strings in front of his back four and linking so much of his team’s attacking play, freed Sterling who, in turn, found Aguero for a shot that, again, lacked the power to bother de Gea.
And the half ended with Bernardo feeding Aguero who shot into the side-netting although, by that stage, United’s belief was starting to blossom.
Late in the half, they strung together their best move of the game, Herrera to Marcus Rashford — the only Mancunian starting the fixture, incidentally — with his clever pass slipping in Martial whose effort was comfortably blocked by Fernandinho.
But it was a sign there was a pulse in Mourinho’s side and, for the time being at least, the fixture.
That lasted precisely three minutes of the second half, the time it took for City to double their lead and, while United had managed to recover from a two-goal deficit in this fixture in April thanks, largely, to Pogba’s best performance in a red shirt, it was hard to see history repeat itself.
To compound United’s troubles, the goal was self-inflicted as Lingard failed to control de Gea’s crisp clearance in the centre circle and Fernandinho mopped up, passing to Aguero who strode forward before exchanging passes with Riyad Mahrez.
There was still much for Aguero to do as he approached the goal from a wide angle but he did it, a crisp, lethal shot past De Gea for his 18th goal in the last 14 league games at the Etihad, a statistic which, even by City’s standards, is staggering.
Yet, as had been the case in the first half, City curiously failed to capitalise on the goal and, within 10 minutes — and seconds of Lukaku’s introduction as a substitute — United were back in the game from their first attack of the half.
As he was in last weekend’s win over Southampton, Ederson was guilty of conceding a penalty needlessly as he threw himself at the feet of the Belgian striker and came nowhere near making contact with the ball.
Martial, on penalty duties in the absence of Pogba and his run-up theatrics, made no mistake with a no-nonsense shot into the bottom right-hand corner.
Guardiola responded, Leroy Sane thrown on for the ineffective Mahrez, and the German soon set up Fernandinho for City’s first chance since their second goal, a 20-yard shot that De Gea covered easily enough.
Fernandinho repeated the trick, in almost identical fashion, minutes later and, while the introduction of substitutes Alexis Sanchez and Mata added to City’s anxiety, it did make the visitors more susceptible on the counter-attack.
It required a magnificent tackle from Ashley Young to dispossess Sane as he appeared on the end of a Sterling pass and looked likely to finish, six yards out.
And it was with an air of inevitability that Gundogan restored the two-goal cushion four minutes from time as City toyed with the old enemy on the edge of the area, before Bernardo floated over a magnificent cross which the German substitute controlled with his right, switched to his left, and beat De Gea from six yards.
Ederson 5; Walker 7, Stones 6, Laporte 7, Mendy 6; B Silva 9, Fernandinho 8, D Silva 7 (Foden 90); Mahrez 5 (Sane 62, 6), Aguero 8 (Gundogan 75, 7) , Sterling 8. Subs (not used) Kompany, Delph, Jesus, Muric.
De Gea 6; Young 7, Smalling 6, Lindelof 7, Shaw 5; Herrera 5 (Mata 72, 6), Matic 6, Fellaini 7, Lingard 5 (Lukaku 58, 6), Martial 7; Rashford 6 (Sanchez 72, 6). Subs (not used) Jones, Fred, Romero, Darmian.
A Taylor 7
Talking point: City set record-breaking pace
It seems scarcely possible, given their magnificent achievements last season, but it should be noted as this Premier League campaign nears its one-third mark, that City are on course to eclipse even last year’s record-breaking efforts.
The derby victory leaves Pep Guardiola’s side on course to better their Premier League best for points and goals scored in a season — set at 100 and 106, respectively in May.
At their current rate, the Blues will finish with 101 points and 114 goals if they maintain this peerless form and, perhaps even more surprisingly, they are also not far from being on course for the best ever defensive record as well.
At current pace, City will concede 15.8 goals this season, compared with the current best-ever
defensive record of 15 against, set in 2005 by a Chelsea side managed by... Jose Mourinho.
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