Mata restores some pride for dominant Red Devils

AFTER the humiliating 4-0 loss to Chelsea, Manchester United restored some pride by beating rivals Manchester City 1-0 in a League Cup fourth-round match at Old Trafford last night.

Juan Mata scored the decisive goal soon after halftime when Zlatan Ibrahimovic set him up with a skilful square ball.

The victory meant that United manager Jose Mourinho also gained revenge on Pep Guardiola after the visitors won the first Manchester derby of the season 2-1.

While City had a few early chances through a Kelechi Iheanacho header and a penalty appeal after Aleix Garcia went down, United dominated.

Their best spell came 10 minutes before the break as Ibrahimovic got involved, while Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford added some zip out wide and up the middle.

Ibrahimovic put Rashford into space in the 37th minute, but he cut inside and had his shot blocked. Pogba also found Ibrahimovic with a cross from the right, but Willy Caballero dealt with it confidently.

United’s most clear-cut chance before Mata’s goal came four minutes into the second half when Ibrahimovic put Pogba on goal just outside the box, but his effort was helped on to the upright by Caballero.

It was Mata who saved the day for the Red Devils when – two minutes after his cross-cum-shot was again punched away by Caballero – Marcos Rojo’s header fell into the path of Ibrahimovic, who shrugged off Nicolas Otamendi and squared the ball into the penalty area.

Ander Herrera was brought down as he tried to lunge at the ball, but it rolled to Mata who whipped it past Caballero .

Ten minutes later, Ibrahimovic should’ve doubled the lead when Rashford showed his class with an inch-perfect cross from the left, but the Swede allowed the ball to slip under his right foot as he tried to shoot.

Guardiola introduced Sergio Aguero in the last quarter, but it didn’t make much difference, with Aleksander Kolarov’s free-kick going high over the top.

While Mourinho would’ve been a relieved man after the final whistle, the League Cup isn’t one of the more sought-after titles, so he will hope that United can continue with their winning ways in the bread-andbutter of the Premier League when they host Burnley at Old Trafford on Saturday.