The Manchester derby has come to be the stories of the two sides of Manchester, each with a disparate tone. During the early years of the Premier League, Manchester United won countless trophies, playing under one of the greatest managers of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson. Manchester City, on the other hand, had a different upbringing. After some success in the 1960s-70s, City experienced a rapid decline in the following decades; as United won titles, City struggled to stay in the top division. However, that all changed in 2008 when Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) bought 90 percent of Manchester City, leading to a massive influx of investment, and the creation of the Premier League’s modern dynasty.
Going into another grudge week, City had been fighting for their sixth title in seven years, while the Red Devils were sitting in sixth place, looking up at a European competition qualification spot. In the build-up, English international and United winger Marcus Rashford had been questioned on his loyalty and commitment to the club, responding in the Players Tribune with: “I grew up here. I have played for this club since I was a boy. My family turned down life-changing money when I was a kid so I could wear this badge.”
Early in the match, Rashford opened up the scoring with a long-range wonder strike, smashing the ball past Brazilian international Ederson from 25 yards, kissing the crossbar on the way in. However, City came out in the second half rejuvenated, and scored three unanswered to ultimately win the match 3-1. City’s homegrown star, Phil Foden cut in from the right to provide an answer to the quality of Rashford’s goal earlier in the match in the 50th minute, and then in the 80th minute, after a great move between him and Julian Álvarez, Foden scored again to take the lead. Erling Haaland, who had had an unusually quiet game up until that point, having missed a sitter in the first half, completed the victory in the first minute of injury time when Rodri pinched the ball from Amrabat and sent the striker through to place it past a helpless Onana..
Watching the game, you could tell that City was always in control. Whether United fans would wish to admit it or not, their team are just not on the same level as The Blues in any area. For City, this was a must-win match to keep pace in the title race against Liverpool and Arsenal, while United are still outside looking in on European competition.
“19 Premier League Titles – Old Trafford, Manchester United” by Paolo Camera is licensed under CC BY 2.0