old_trafford

Match Report: Manchester United 1-0 Manchester City

  • Manchester United claim bragging rights against local rivals Manchester City after a 1-0 win in the EFL cup.

Manchester United have progressed into the quarter-finals of the EFL cup after Mata’s goal helped them beat City 1-0.

Jose Mourinho was a man under pressure after the 4-0 loss on the weekend at Chelsea however after a putting out a strong side they easily beat rivals City as they had control over most of the match.

The game had a slow start to it as both teams didn’t have any clear chances however it was clear that Utd looked more dangerous when attacking and most likely to strike first.

David De Gea didn’t have much to do in the first half, as he did for the second.

City started without many first team players such as Aguero, De Bruyne, Zabaleta. Fernandinho didn’t have much creativity to work with throughout the game, with wide-man Sane going missing for long periods.

Navas, however, did put a few crosses into the United penalty box, but they were dealt comfortably by United's centre-backs Blind and Rojo.

Kompany started for City and looked to have City’s back line in shape. However, he only lasted 45 mins, being substituted for Kolarov before the start of the second half.

Pogba had a great chance to put Utd into the lead just three minutes into the second half, but his attempt was blocked out by Caballero’s fingertip-save which went on to strike to post.

United struck gold in the 54th minute as Ibrahimovic crossed the ball into the area with Mata striking home. Herrera believed he was brought down by Fernando in the lead up to the goal, but it didn’t matter as Mata converted the chance.

Luke Shaw, who started for United grew stronger as the game progressed, as he started blocking out crosses and started winning more aerial duels.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a great chance to put United 2-0 up in the 63rd minute, but failed to make contact with the cross delivered by Rashford.

Aguero was introduced to the game at minute 70 but failed to make any impact on the game.

City failed to record a single shot on target, the first time since April 2012.

United v City EFL
Players walking back to the tunnel following the whistle

Pep Guardiola is now winless in his last 6 games, the longest in his managerial career. Next up for City is West Brom away in the league on Saturday while United entertain Burnley at Old Trafford.