Amorim's big calls pay off for United; Haaland drought deepens City woe
MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City were booed off by their own supporters and manager Pep Guardiola was taunted with chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning” by Manchester United fans after Amad Diallo‘s late winner sealed a 2-1 derby victory for United.
Man City have now lost eight of their last 11 games in all competitions — their worst run since 2003 — and are now seeing their title hopes fade with every defeat. This run has marked more losses than City had in their previous 106 matches combined, per ESPN Research.
Josko Gvardiol‘s first-half header had looked set to send City to victory with United missing a host of second-half chances to equalise. But a Matheus Nunes foul on Amad in the 86th minute led to a penalty from which Brunoe Fernandes equalised before Amad netted the winner two minutes later.
Man City loss deepens crisis for Guardiola
Manchester City are now beyond crisis after suffering an eighth defeat in 11 games at the Eithad on Sunday, days affter slumping to a seventh defeat in 10 games when losing 2-0 to Juventus in the Champions League midweek.
City went into the clash against United desperate for a win to put their season back on track and Gvardiol’s first-half goal delivered hope that they would end their horror run. But City were poor — there was none of the attacking verve and quality of the Guardiola team that made it four Premier League titles in a row last season and they allowed United back into the game to snatch an incredible win.
City’s problems are clear. They have no pace in key areas of the team and key men from their great teams are fading fast. Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gündogan and Bernardo Silva simply cannot cope with the intensity of games at the top level, and City have lost the fear factor that enabled them to win so many honours.
So, what next? Guardiola has said that he is going nowhere, having signed a new two-year contract only last month. But how long can this go on before even Guardiola’s position becomes under threat? — Mark Ogden
Man United’s progress continues with another comeback
Man United manager Ruben Amorim praised the fight and the spirit of his players after they came back from behind to beat FC Viktoria Plzen on Thursday in the Europa League, and the same characteristics were on show against City.
It wasn’t a perfect performance by any stretch. But just like they did in Czechia, United found a way to win.
For much of the 90 minutes, United were staring at a third straight Premier League defeat for the first time since 2015. Amorim was also on the brink of losing a third successive top-flight game for the first time in his managerial career. That was until Fernandes tucked away a late penalty and Amad scored a dramatic late winner.
Amorim is not the type to get carried away by one result. He was very measured in his assessment after the 4-0 win over Everton and he’s far too balanced to believe all his problems can be solved by a win at the Etihad Stadium. But if nothing else, it gives United a foundation on which to build.
United have got a difficult run of fixtures coming up over Christmas and new year with games against Tottenham, Newcastle, Liverpool and Arsenal. There is a long way to go in his Old Trafford rebuild, but winning at City is a big statement. — Rob Dawson
Haaland’s goals drought makes matters worse
Manchester City have mounting problems, but few are as big as striker Erling Haaland‘s loss of form in front of goal. The Norway international was anonymous against United and marked out of the game by Harry Maguire, who was outstanding for Ruben Amorim’s side.
Haaland has now scored just six league goals since the end of August — and that run is even worse when you consider it is just three goals in his last 11 league games.
When he doesn’t score, Haaland offers little to City and opponents and now worked out that they can blunt Guardiola’s side of they nullify Haaland.
This is now the biggest test of Haaland’s career. He has to show he has more to his game than simply scoring goals when the team is flying. — Ogden
Amorim’s big calls pay off for United
Amorim made two huge calls by dropping forwards Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho from his match-day squad, and his gamble paid off handsomely with Diallo making a match-winning contribution in their absence.
Whenever a manager drops a big player — in this case, two — he really needs the team to win to validate the decision and make the point to those omitted that they are not indispensable. And although United needed two late goals to win the derby, it was Amad who made all the difference by winning a penalty from which Fernandes scored, and then scoring a stunning winner two minutes later.
By admitting pre-match that both Rashford and Garnacho had trained well on Sunday morning and that his decision was based more than just what happens on the pitch, Amorim made it clear that Rashford and Garnacho were not simply left out because of recent performances.
Even though neither player has performed anywhere close to their levels in recent weeks, they have still scored 15 goals between them in all competitions this season, with Garnacho the team’s leading scorer with eight. Amorim was leaving a big hole in his team by choosing to leave both Rashford and Garnacho out because none of his other forwards have produced the same number of goals.
Having only arrived from Sporting CP last month, Amorim is in his early days at United and he needs to assert himself on the club quickly. But with Amad making such a big contribution, Amorim was the clear winner after his selection gamble.
Per ESPN Research, Amorim is the first Man United manager to win his first Manchester derby since Alex Ferguson did in 1987. — Ogden
Mount injury a setback for Man United
Mason Mount looked devastated when he was forced off after just 14 minutes and you can understand why — injuries have been a problem throughout his time at United. Nearly 18 months since his move from Chelsea, he’s only managed to complete 90 minutes in a game once — the 3-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle in November 2023.
Amorim has spoken of his admiration for Mount, but that doesn’t matter if you’re never available. Amorim needs players he can rely on week after week. Mount — and Luke Shaw for that matter — have consistently struggled to do it. Mount will be even more disappointed to have picked up another problem given how sharp he looked during the win over FC Viktoria Plzen on Thursday.
Amorim’s second-half substitutions — including Mount and Rasmus Hojlund — helped change the game and a night which looked like turning into a Europa League embarrassment ended up being a hard-fought victory.
As Mount walked off at the Etihad he was consoled by Fernandes and Lisandro Martínez. Even Phil Foden came over to make sure he was all right. Mount can only hope that he’s not in for another long spell on the sidelines at a time when there are places in Amorim’s new-look United up for grabs. — Dawson
A rollercoaster game for Gvardiol
If he didn’t already, Gvardiol will know now just how fine the margins can be in the Premier League.
For most of the derby, it looked like he would be the hero after putting City ahead with a first-half header. Then, in stoppage time, he lost the run of Amad and missed the chance to clear his scuffed shot off the line and a game which City looked to have won ended in painful defeat.
It was a rollercoaster afternoon for Gvardiol, coming during a period where he has already taken his fair share of criticism. The 22-year-old was blamed for goals conceded against Tottenham and Feyenoord. Guardiola offered his public support after Gvardiol played a central role in the late collapse against Feyenoord, but still felt it necessary to drop him for the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.
With Nathan Aké, Manuel Akanji and John Stones all struggling with injuries and Rico Lewis suspended, Gvardiol was one of one three fully fit defenders for the game against United. Moved to centre-back from his usual position of left-back, he came up with City’s opening goal with a guided header from De Bruyne’s cross.
Makeshift left-back Nunes was to blame for United’s equaliser, but it’s Gvardiol who won’t want to see a replay of Amad’s winner. It has been a difficult spell for Gvardiol, perhaps the first real period of scrutiny since his big-money move from RB Leipzig in 2023 and the spotlight is on him again. — Dawson
