Manchester City 1, Manchester United 2
Manchester United snatched victory in the Manchester Derby at the Etihad Stadium with two goals in two minutes at the end of a tense game.
Josko Gvardiol had given City the lead in the first half but United stayed in the game until the 88th minute when Amad Diallo won a penalty which was converted by Bruno Fernandes.
And Amad went on to score the winner less than 2 minutes later in the 90th minute when he got on the end of a hopeful punt upfield by Lisandro Martinez to slot home the winner from an acute angle with City’s defence in disarray.
The game wasn’t the highest quality but the stakes were high for both teams in relative terms with United battling to get back into the top half of the Premier League while City were trying to keep in touch with league leaders Liverpool after a run of only 1 win in 10 games.
Manchester United’s game plan went out of the window after Mason Mount had to be withdrawn within 11 minutes following an injury.
And United’s weakness at set pieces was their undoing once again after 36 minutes of a bitty first half when Kevin De Bruyne took a short corner, combining with Ilkay Gundogan to send in a cross which deflected off Amad Diallo and looped towards Josko Gvardiol who rose up above Diogo Dalot to put the Blues into the lead.
Nossair Mazraoui won the ball off Jeremy Doku, and fed Rasmus Hojlund whose through ball released Bruno Fernandes to go clean through but the United captain sent his shot wide of the back post.
Doku was replaced by Jack Grealish as Pep Guardiola went for safety first, leaving United having to gamble by throwing on Joshua Zirkzee, Antony, and Leny Yoro for Erasmus, Hojlund, Mazraoui, and Mathijs De Ligt for the last 12 minutes.
Nunes bad backpass put Amad clean through and the Portuguese midfeilder raced back to try and correct his error only to bring the United winger down.
Bruno Fernandes stepped up and scored a penalty past Ederson – sending the City keeper the wrong way.
And there was worse to come when City’s shellshocked defence didn’t get back to defend Lisandro Martinez’ long ball up to Amad Diallo – with the entire defence bamboozled the United winger slotted home the winner from an acute angle to send the travelling fans into ecstasy.
The late United winner left City in 5th with the Reds moving up to 12th on 22 points as Pep Guardiola digested an 8th defeat in 11 games.
PLAYER RATINGS – Manchester City 1, Manchester United 2
Manchester City
Ederson: 6. Not much to trouble him in the first half and he made a second half great save to deny Amad Diallo. Panicked by Amad’s run up for the penalty. Blotted his copybook when misjudging the bounce from Lisandro Martinez’s long ball up to Amad.
Kyle Walker: 6. Slightly embarrassing clash with Rasmus Hojlund, but recovery speed waned in the second half.
Ruben Dias: 6. Commanding at the back but could do little about the late defensive collapse.
Josko Gvardiol: 7. Played a more confident centre back role but an eye catching header was his 4th goal of the season and most popular one so far.
Ilkay Gundogan: 7. Sat deep to orchestrate but slow to track back later.
Bernardo Silva: 6. Right ring role to protect Kyle Walker.
Jeremy Doku: 7. Plenty of balls into the box from the left, constant threat but accuracy on his crosses was not always consistent.
Kevin De Bruyne: 6. Tried to find the gaps in the United defence. His deflected cross found its way to Josko Gvardiol for the opening goal. Couple of wayward crosses and shots blotted his copybook. Subbed off after 68 minutes.
Phil Foden: 6. Long range shot rippled the side netting and had another go blocked by Harry Maguire. Shot deflected off Harry Maguire wide for corner.
Matheus Nunes: 5. Inverted from midfield to left back as he had to keep an eye on Amad Diallo. Used recovery pace well to keep the United man in check. Big mistake at the end to give the ball away compounded by rash challenge to give away penalty.
Erling Haaland: 6. Not much service, fed on scraps but worked hard to get the ball.
Mateo Kovacic (on for Kevin De Bruyne, 68): 6. On to lend more control to City’s midfield largely bypassed for the United goals.
Jack Grealish (on for Jeremy Doku, 77): No time to mark.
Savinho (on for Ilkay Gundogan, 89): No time to mark.
Manchester United
Andre Onana: 6. Couldn’t do much with the Gvardiol header.
Mathijs De Ligt: 6. Right sided centre back – had to watch out for Jeremy Doku.
Harry Maguire: 7. Couple of good blocks on City players and looked after Erling Haaland too
Lisandro Martinez: 7. Looked a bit skittish earlier but a long punt up to Amad Diallo set up the winner.
Noussair Mazraoui: 7. Good battle with Jeremy Doku but couldn’t prevent the opening goal coming from down his flank.
Manuel Ugarte: 7. Set up a great chance for Amad Diallo who missed the target. Snappy into tackles when he could reach them.
Bruno Fernandes: 7. Pushed further up after Mason Mount went off but indiscipline crept into his game as he looked to drag United back on terms. Sent clean through by Rasmus Hojlund, he sent his shot wide of the back post. Scored a cool penalty to level the scores.
Diogo Dalot: 6. Another left wing back role but ineffective and was out jumped by Erling Haaland for the goal.
Amad Diallo: 9. Pace to trouble City. Caught offside as United tried to break the City press. Might have been offside but shot wide after being slid through by Manuel Ugarte. Forced a saved from Ederson in the second half before winning the penalty following a City mistake and then scoring the winner in the last minute.
Mason Mount: 6. Went down after barely 11 minutes, looked distraught. Immediately replaced by Kobbie Mainoo.
Rasmus Hojlund: 6. Got sucked into a petty squabble with Kyle Walker. Tried to buy a penalty off Ruben Dias and then set up Bruno Fernandes for a great chance which he missed.
Kobbie Mainoo (on for Mason Mount, 14): 6. Pushed up to join the attack in the second half but didn’t make much of an impression on City midfield. Late header misdirected over the bar.
Leny Yoro (on for Mathijs De Ligt, 79): No time to mark
Antony (on for Noussair Mazraoui, 79): No time to mark
Joshua Zirkzee (on for Rasmus Hojlund, 79): No time to mark
GOALS – Manchester City 1, Manchester United 2
Man City 1, Man Utd 0: 36. Josko Gvardiol rose up above Diogo Dalot and headed City into the lead from 6 yards out after Kevin De Bruyne’s cross took a deflection from an attempted block off Amad Diallo on the way over.
Man City 1, Man Utd 1: 88. Bruno Fernandes stepped up and sent Ederson the wrong way before celebrating in front of the City fans after a mistake by Matheus Nunes allowed Amad to attack the area before Nunes brought him down for a spot kick trying to atone.
Man City 1, Man Utd 2: 90: Amad controlled a long ball up by Lisandro Martinez before slotting past Ederson with the City defence powerless to stop the ball creeping over the line from an acute angle.
TEAM NEWS – Manchester City 1, Manchester United 2
Matheus Nunes and Bernardo Silva were drafted into the team which needed a left back after Rico Lewis was sent off at Crystal Palace last week and was suspended for this game.
Striker Divin Mubama, a £2m summer signing from West Ham, was included in a match day squad after a lengthy period out injured.
Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were both absent from the United match day squad
MATCH STATS – Manchester City 1, Manchester United 2
Man City: Ederson, Walker (C), Dias, Gvardiol, Gundogan (Savinho 89), Silva, Doku (Grealish 77), De Bruyne (Kovacic 68), Foden, Nunes, Haaland
Man City Subs not used: Ortega, Stones, Savinho, Simpson-Pusey, Mubama, O’Reilly, McAtee
Bookings: Walker 40
Goal: Gvardiol 36
Man Utd: Onana, De Ligt (Yoro 79), Maguire, Martinez, Mazraoui (Antony 79), Ugarte, Fernandes (C), Dalot, Amad, Mount (Mainoo 14), Hojlund (Zirkzee, 79)
Man Utd Subs not used: Bayindir, Lindelof, Malacia, Eriksen, Casemiro
Bookings: Hojlund 40
Goals: Fernandes pen 88; Amad 90
Referee: Anthony Taylor