MANCHESTER UNITED are taking on bitter rivals Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium RIGHT NOW.
And Erik ten Hag’s side have taken a shock lead after Marcus Rashford’s thunderbolt on eight minutes.
Kevin De Bruyne returned to the City starting XI in the Premier League after making FOUR assists to Erling Haaland in the FA Cup midweek.
- TV channel: Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League
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- Man City team: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Ake, Stones, Rodri, Bernardo, Foden, De Bruyne, Doku, Haaland
- Man Utd team: Onana, Dalot, Varane, Evans, Lindelof, Casemiro, Mainoo, McTominay, Fernandes, Rashford, Garnacho
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Man City 0-1 Man Utd
37. United are defending in big numbers.
As City push and pass their way forward, the visitors are often sat with ten men behind the ball, leaving only Marcus Rashford up top.
That’s a long time left on the clock to be playing so deep.
Man City 0-1 Man Utd
35. De Bruyne takes matters into his own hands (feet) by coming in off the right flank to open up space for a shot.
However, the midfielder rather rushes at the opportunity, pulling his effort uncharacteristically wide of the near post.
Man City 0-1 Man Utd
33. Another fine stop from Onana!
City are turning the screw on their opponents now, and almost bag an equaliser.
Walker accelerates down the right, tees up De Bruyne for a cross that’s cleared by Varane, but only to Rodri, who executes an immediate sliced volley destined for the bottom corner.
That is until Onana gets down low to his left in order to push away.
Man City 0-1 Man Utd
31. All the talk was of Kevin De Bruyne’s creativity before this match, but it’s been Bernardo Silva as the man most likely to make something happen so far.
The Spaniard has already been responsible for laying on five chances this afternoon.
Man City 0-1 Man Utd
29. Decent play from City.
Dias sends a diagonal pass into the path of Doku on the left, the Belgian comes inside and exchanges passes with Silva before shooting well wide of the target.
Man City 0-1 Man Utd
26. A foul is given against Lindelof up the left touchline, and – remarkably – the first free-kick of the contest is awarded.
Man City 0-1 Man Utd
24. Hopeful shouts of handball from the home fans as a cross crashes into Dalot and goes behind for a corner.
In fact, Andy Madley delays the restart while VAR take a second look, but it takes barely a second to notice that Dalot’s arm was tucked into his body in a natural position.
Man City 0-1 Man Utd
22. Perhaps I should have said 3-3?
A lifted cross into the City box from the left has the home defence nowhere to be seen.
The ball is just too high for the arriving McTominay, but sits perfectly for Rashford at the far post.
A wild miscue of a shot follows, making a mockery of the screamer he netted from three times the distance a quarter of an hour earlier.
Man City 0-1 Man Utd
20. This is an incredibly open match full of non-stop attacking action.
It could easily be 2-2 already.
Man City 0-1 Man Utd
18. Big chance for Foden! Must be! Saved!
Now it’s the turn of the United defence to open up and allow an opponent a free path to goal – a route that a forward fails to capitalise on.
Huge credit to Onana, who is quick off his line to narrow Foden’s angle, and then imposing enough to block the subsequent low shot.
Man City 0-1 Man Utd
16. Another chance for Rashford! Oh, he miscontrols!
Dias’ slip on halfway presents the opportunity for Fernandes to poke a through ball into the path of the goalscorer, and all he has to do is head it forward to leave himself clear on goal.
However, Rashford makes a real mess of it, and City breathe a huge, collective sigh of relief.
Man City 0-1 Man Utd
14. Foden goes for goal! Saved by Onana!
City move the ball from left to right across the United penalty area, presenting Foden with a chance from a wider angle than he would have liked.
The forward does well to get a strike away, but it’s one comfortably dealt with by the United goalkeeper.
Man City 0-1 Man Utd
12. On co-commentary, Gary Neville ponders whether Ake’s decision to drop back as Onana launched forward for the goal came as a result of Garnacho beating him for pace on the flank just minutes earlier.
Man City 0-1 Man Utd
10. Stunned by that opener, City go looking for an immediate response.
Foden attempts to feed Haaland, but Casemiro gets a foot in to carry the pass beyond the striker.
Man City 0-1 Man Utd
8. What an extraordinary hit from Marcus Rashford!
A long clearance upfield from Andre Onana catches Manchester City out with Bruno Fernandes played onside by a dozing Nathan Ake on the near side.
The Manchester United captain then does brilliantly to hold the ball up, turn, and lay it back into the path of Rashford.
What follows is sensational; the England forward takes the shot on first time from 25 yards, it flies past Ederson, and crashes into the net off the crossbar.
The strike silences the Etihad! It silences the haters! And it has United in front!
An absolute stunner – in more ways that one.
What a goal!!
Man City 0-0 Man Utd
6. Now it’s Doku’s turn to test the United defence with some unpredictable skill and pace.
Dalot stands up to the challenge, and then we have a first glimpse of the threat that United carry on the counter.
Garnacho gets away from Ake on the right, and looks to have the legs to go all the way.
Somehow the winger gets held up on route, and his eventual deflected cross is an easy grab for Ederson.
Man City 0-0 Man Utd
4. The barrage continues.
The game has been played exclusively in United’s half so far, indeed it’s mostly in their 18-yard box.
Silva is just about crowded our as he lines up a shot inside the area, and then Stones goes to crowd following a challenge from Casemiro.
The referee and video officials say no penalty, and they’re absolutely right. The Brazilian got a foot on the ball with Stones kicking the back of his opponent’s leg.
Man City 0-0 Man Utd
2. The home side force a corner with less than a minute on the clock, and immediately to pull their red rivals apart.
Clever passing and movement from the dead ball draws United’s defence out, allowing Foden to strike a goal from 22 yards out.
Deflected and behind for another corner.
Kick-off – Man City v Man Utd
1. Here we go! Bernardo Silva gets this Manchester City underway with a one-man kick-off all the way back to Ederson, and sets the tone of the hosts in possession.
Andy Madley is the man in charge, and the champions are already on the charge…
Here come the two teams!
The rain has been falling in Manchester – no surprise there – but it seems to have paused to allow the players to make their entrance at the Etihad.
Ahead of kick-off, the atmosphere is more anxious than raucous. Perhaps both supporters fear a slip-up, one that could leave the blue half playing catch-up in the title race, or one would leave the red half red-faced.
Kick-off comes next.
Pep hails incredible partnership
Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne will play together in the Premier League for just the fourth time this season, and for Pep Guardiola, the return of that partnership could not have been better timed.
The Manchester City boss believes his squad have done brilliantly to stay in the title race without their star duo, and now hope the pair can fire them to the top.
At the end we are here and many times we have been without them and still we are there. We won’t be at the top tonight, but we are here because everyone is making contributions. When they [Haaland and De Bruyne] perform at the highest level, it is incredible for us.”
Pep Guardiola
City shooting for club record
Stop Erling Haaland and stop Manchester City, right? Of course not.
Even when they were without the Norwegian striker this season, the Citizens were unstoppable in front of goal, especially at home.
In fact, City have scored in each of their last 54 games at the Etihad in all competitions.
And now Haaland is back from injury, back in red-hot form, and back paired with his creator supreme in Kevin De Bruyne.
So it seems a case of when City will score, rather than if – and once they do, they will equal their club record of scoring in 55 consecutive home games, which they first set between January 2012 and January 2014.
More back four roulette for Erik
Injuries, form and suspensions have caused chaos for Manchester United’s defence this season.
And any hope that Erik ten Hag may have had for a settled back line for the remainder of the campaign has been blown apart by recent injuries to Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire.
The Dutchman goes for a quartet of Diogo Dalot, Jonny Evans, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof this afternoon, a selection that Kelly Cates tells us is the 21st different back four that United have opted for in 27 Premier League games this season.
Derby brings away day joy
No fixture in Premier League history has resulted in more away wins than Manchester City against Manchester United.
The derby has served up 22 successes for the side making the short trip across the city, the same number of away victories given to us by games between Aston Villa and Liverpool.
Indeed, of the 54 fixtures to be played 40+ times in the Premier League, the Manchester derby has the highest proportion of away triumphs at 42% (22/53).
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
