3 Talking Points from an incident-packed Manchester Derby
Manchester City won the bragging rights in the 199th Manchester Derby as a controversial Erling Haaland goal was the difference between the sides, giving new City manager Enzo Maresca his first derby win and stretching his winning streak in the Premier League to 4 games.
The game was laced with talking points that will be spoken for a substantial amount of time. Erling Haaland’s goal had a tangible amount of controversy, but not as much as the biggest incident in the first-half where Phil Foden was shown a straight red card for kicking Bruno Fernandes on his midriff in reaction to a bit of naughtiness from the latter, whose misgivings went unpunished.
However, City held on and ended up being the deserved victors as Man United are plunged into uncertainty early on in the season. City are joint top with 12 points, while United are in 13th place with 4 points in 4 games.
With that being said, here are the 3 talking points from a Derby full of incidents.
- A game of 2 incidents.
The latest edition of Manchester Derby was rife with talking points, with two major incidents taking centre-stage. The first one was the Phil Foden red card. There was no doubt that it was a red card, with Foden wildly reacting and kicking Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes on the midriff. Referee Michael Oliver did not hesitate to show a straight red card and VAR also agreed with the decision and judged it as violent conduct. However, Bruno Fernandes was rather fortunate to get away without any sanctions as he appeared to have instigated the reaction with a rather subtle kick on Foden’s backside, though not with the same malice as the one he received a few seconds later. And while Maresca implored that Bruno should receive a red as well, he should have at minimum gotten at least a yellow.
And then came the defining moment of the contest. Erling Haaland prodded home with a good finish from close range, only for his celebrations to be cut short by the offside flag from the linesman. However, VAR intervened to not only adjudge Haaland to be in an onside position, but also conclude that Enzo Fernandes had no involvement in the play despite lunging in for the ball in the 6-yard box while coming back from an offside position, thereby letting the goal stand.
The goal proved to be the point of difference between the sides, but even more drama was to unfold as Pro Ref, the official body, issued a statement saying that the goal should not have stood because of Enzo’s involvement in it and was called an “error of judgement”.
Safe to say that these decisions will be talked about for a good while.
- Man United’s inability to play against 10 men resurfaces
This is the third time within the space of a year that Manchester United have lost a Premier League game against a side reduced to 10 men. Everton, Newcastle United, and now Man City. Put simply, Man United still do not know how to play when they have the majority of the possession.
Against City, their build-up was slow and ponderous which allowed the visitors ample time to get back into shape and deprive them of the space for their transitions. To put it into context, from Foden being sent off till the 70th minute, United did not have a single shot on target. This is turning out to be a problem in perpetuity with United and the sooner they rectify this the better.
- Enzo Fernandes’ all-action performance shows why Maresca wanted him
Enzo Fernandes’ performance at Old Trafford was a stark vindication about why Maresca wanted a reunion with his former Chelsea midfielder.
The Argentine was his typical combative self and was practically everywhere on the pitch. From covering ground to spraying passes to sniffing out danger whenever called on to, Fernandes did his job to perfection. He almost scored himself, with his sumptuous shot from distance palmed by Senne Lammens on to the post.
While he might have not scored, he was definitely the better Fernandez on the field, having a much bigger impact than his opposite number. It seems to be like a match made in heaven and if he continues in the same vein, City could be a massive player in the title race.
