Written by InhaleSports Contributor Josh Mason
Going into the weekend there was only one game in the Premier League that people were talking about, and that was the Manchester Derby. In fact, it was the game of the weekend in any league across Europe. Though the derby may have reached new heights in the previous seasons thanks to City’s billions, this time around the stakes were even higher with the two best managers in the game, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho, competing.
The rivalry dates back to the early 2000’s when both men were at Barcelona under Sir Bobby Robson, Pep as a player and Jose as a coach. When Barcelona seemed destined to appoint Mourinho as head coach, he had planned for the recently retired Pep to be on his coaching staff, until a last minute U-turn saw Mourinho bypassed in favour of the man he saw as his understudy, Pep. Since then, their teams played each other 16 times, with Pep coming out on top 8 times to Mou’s 5. Though both will be quick to tell you the rivalry stems from the media’s imagination, the fact is, both want so badly to be considered the best, a rivalry is inevitable.
Heading into the game, there was no clear favourite. Both teams had won all three of their opening games, and though Man City’s were in a slightly more convincing fashion, they would play the game without the suspended Sergio Aguero. In addition, the game was being played at Old Trafford, and Mourinho’s genius is cemented in the fact he knows how to set up teams to win each single game rather than having an inflexible system, something Pep has long been criticized for.
When the game began, it was City who played like they were at home. Completing pass after pass all over the pitch, they were visual representation of everything that comes to mind in a Pep team; United were scattered. They chased and chased, but were unable to break up the City play. In the fifteenth minute, United pressed the opposition far up the field causing Kolarov to find an outlet further up the field. An optimistic ball from the left back ended up being knocked down by Iheanacho, Aguero’s replacement, and latched onto by De Bruyne 25 yards from goal. His touch took him well away from the flat-footed Dailey Blind, whose facial expression indicated he knew exactly what was coming next. De Bruyne pushed into the area, and slotted easily beyond a helpless De Gea; City were up, and hadn’t broken a sweat.
The superiority continued as City continued to pass the ball around in a cool, nonchalant manner as United hopelessly chased like headless chickens. In the 35th minute, newly reborn Raheem Sterling fed the ball into the box when a ricochet left it at the feet of De Bruyne. The Belgian then turned, working the ball onto his favoured left foot and guided a curling effort along the ground and into statuesque David De Gea’s right post. Though the ball bounced back out, it fell right to Iheanacho who simply passed the ball into the empty net; United’s defense stoic . They were apathetic in closing down De Bruyne, allowing him to get the initial shot away, and completely cemented when it came back off the post. There was brief, calming silence that followed the ball hitting the back of the net, as everyone including Iheanacho himself, assumed the forward was offside. But when the flag failed to go up, City fans entered into pandemonium, as United fans somehow became even more silent.
After bossing the opening exchanges, all seemed set for City to go into the break a well-deserved 2-0 up, but debutant Claudio Bravo had other plans. Signed for his footwork, an essential part of the 11 member attack that Pep requires for his team, Bravo’s failure to deal with a routine catch from a set piece saw the ball fall to the last United player you would want the ball to fall to, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Hitting a rising half volley through a crowd of players and past two players on the line would be a difficult execution for any man, but Zlatan is no mere man. He smashed the ball into the tiny unguarded area of the net with incredible ease, and then followed it without cracking a smile and a “lets go boys” look on his face. To be fair to Bravo, John Stones did his best to end up under the goalkeeper, affecting his jump, but either way a totally dominant City performance only gave them a slender lead heading into the break. United were down, but had the momentum. Game on.
At half time it was clear whose philosophy was shining through. Pep’s team had looked like a Pep team, and was far from the dull, tired City that were out on the field at the end of Pellegrini’s reign. United on the other hand. It seemed as though Mourinho was prepared for his team to let the other have the ball and then hit them on the counter, but conceding early threw that gameplan into the air. In addition, their inability to get the ball anywhere on the pitch only resulted in making City look even classier. One would be forgiven for failing to remember that the most expensive player ever, Paul Pogba, was on the field. The Frenchman was absolutely anonymous through the first half, though the same could be said of many United players.
Mourinho obviously thought the same, axing wingers Mkhitaryan and Lingard in favour of Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera; many had tipped Rashford to start following his hat trick debut appearance for the England Under 21s leading into the weekend.
Whatever Mou said at halftime seemed to kick United into gear. Rashford was his usual confident, carefree attacking self, and the team as a whole were the brighter starters, despite a lack of clear cut chances being created.
Claudio Bravo knew that you cant have a derby without a bit of dispute, so decided to created an incident himself. With the ball at his feet, he got a little fancy, saw the ball run away from him into open space in the penalty area. Rooney and Bravo himself began a foot race to the loose ball, with both players electing to lunge after it. The ball was definitely there for the taking, with both entitled to go for it, but when Bravo went in with studs showing he was always going to be testing the referees patience. That patience would have only gotten slimmer after he went over the ball, catching Rooney’s ankles, and leaving him in a heap. Though players and fans waiting for a whistle, the referee did not oblige, waving play on. To me, Bravo had gotten away with not only conceding a definite penalty, but should have been sent off for an early shower. It was reckless, studs showing, and without control.
The game continued with United pushing for an equalizer. On the 70th minute it appeared that the man who can do no wrong, Rashford, had gotten one. The ball was in the back of the net after a shot from 20 yards out after the youngster had cut inside, but the assistant’s flag was raised for offside. Zlatan had run across the sight of the ball and impeded to goalkeepers vision. The look on Zlatan’s face so obviously gave away how far offside he was, the replays were completely unnecessary.
A few more chances came and went for each side, but none successfully executed and the game ended 2-1 to the visitors. From start to finish it felt like a real spectacle, one that everyone in the world should be watching, and something other derby’s have failed to live up to in previous billings (looking at you Chelsea- Man U). What became clearer though, is that City are the team to beat, despite Bravo’s efforts to prove otherwise. Pep’s ability to whip his team into shape after just a few months and make them so clearly his, is quite incredible. Perhaps the scariest thing, is that he doesn’t even have the personnel to completely refine his set up. This team should win the Premier League this year, and with the additions, their goal of a first Champions League title might not be too farfetched in the next couple of years. For Mourinho, he clearly has the foundations for a title winning team, but he doesn’t know his best 11 yet. History would show us that when he does find that core 11 and 3-4 off the bench, his team will be right up there.
This Premier League season has everything necessary to be the most competitive and dramatic yet.
