Tactical Analysis: Man United 0-2 Man City
The city of Manchester was bathed in blue for the second time in the Premier League this season, as Man City inched closer to the league title with a well-deserved 2-0 victory over bitter rivals Man United at Old Trafford.
City’s victory in the derby clash meant that Pep Guardiola’s side reclaimed top spot in the Premier League standings and one does get the feeling that it is now their title to lose, with the Citizens set to play Burnley, Leicester City and Brighton in their final three games of the campaign.
While Liverpool would have been the biggest beneficiaries of a Man United triumph on derby day, the Red Devils needed to get something out of the game to keep their top-four hopes alive.
However, it was not to be, as City’s quality and attacking pedigree reigned supreme in what was a tactical sea-saw battle between Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Pep Guardiola.
1. United changed to a 3-5-2 formation
Having endured a humiliating 4-0 defeat to Everton away from home on Sunday, Solskjaer would have felt the pressure to ring the changes heading into the derby clash, and the Norwegian made as many as 5 changes to his starting eleven.
The likes of Anthony Martial, Nemanja Matic, Phil Jones, Diogo Dalot and Romelu Lukaku made way for Matteo Darmian, Jesse Lingard, Andres Pereira, Ashley Young and Luke Shaw, as United played a 3-5-2 formation on paper.
However, the Red Devils looked happy to absorb the pressure and wing-backs Young and Shaw stayed deep inside their own half and United played a flat back-five system to cope with City’s attacking threat from the wide areas.
2. City’s wide attackers found life difficult
United looked completely listless and disjointed in the 4-0 defeat to Everton but the Red Devils showed a marked improvement in the derby game on Wednesday night.
Playing a counter-attacking 5-3-2 formation in their own backyard, United showed great respect to City and came out with a near-perfect plan to frustrate their neighbours. They adopted a measured and disciplined approach, showcasing high levels of cohesion and togetherness to press and defend very well as a team.
Fred held things together in the central midfield role, while Pereira and Pogba, who played on the right and left of the midfield three respectively, dropped back to ensure that the likes of Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling weren’t able to exploit the gaps between the back-three and the wing-backs Shaw and Young.
Pogba, especially, did a great job defensively in the first half, as the Frenchman teamed up with Shaw down the left to nullify the threat of Bernardo.
United looked compact and it was clear that City needed to produce their finest piece of guile to breach a defence that stood virtually like a rock in the first half.
3. Change of City’s dynamics in the second-half
Fernandinho had a good first half and made some key interventions but Guardiola was forced to take the Brazilian off shortly after the interval. That marked the introduction of Leroy Sane, with Ilkay Gundogan shifting to a more central position to fill in Fernandinho’s role and Bernardo Silva dropping down to a position on the right of City’s midfield trio.
It was the change in dynamics that played a key role in the build-up to Bernardo’s opener, Gundogan showed an excellent piece of vision to play the Portuguese international in behind the backline and Bernardo outfoxed Shaw before beating de Gea at his near post.
Fernandinho’s withdrawal, Sane’s introduction and City’s subsequent change in dynamics played a key role in turning the game on its head.
Sane was involved in a slick move that ended with Aguero hitting the post before the German capped off a blistering counter-attack from Sterling with a thunderous finish that took de Gea by surprise.
Sane was too quick for Ashley Young and City virtually had the game in the bag midway through the second-half.
4. United made an attempt to forge a fight-back but it wasn’t enough
City had plenty of possession throughout the game but United did have their fair share of chances as well. Lingard missed two glorious opportunities on either side of the halfway mark.
He failed to find the top corner in the first half after being played in brilliantly by Pogba but the chance in the second half was an even better one.
The story could have been different had he managed to turn in Vincent Kompany’s missed clearance at the far post. Rashford was also denied by some intelligent goalkeeping from Ederson in the first half.
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Having gone 2-0 down in the second-half, Solskjaer played his trump cards and brought on the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Anthony Martial in a bid to overturn the deficit.
Jesse Lingard dropped to a No.10 role with Lukaku playing from the right, but it was too little too late for the Red Devils, as City held on to their advantage and cruised to a well-deserved victory.
