Rampant City give United a pounding
TRAILING 3-0 at home to their fierce local rivals in a cup semi-final, Manchester United’s players were jeered by their own supporters as they traipsed off at half-time.
It was, as United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer attested afterwards, the team’s worst 45 minutes of the season, the latest example of the gulf which has opened up between the blue and red halves of Manchester.
In the end, Manchester City came away from Old Trafford on Tuesday night with a 3-1 victory but with hints of frustration that the score wasn’t even bigger after a one-sided first leg of the English League Cup semi-finals.
“Of course, Manchester United can come back,” City manager Pep Guardiola said, looking ahead to the second leg at Etihad Stadium on January 29.
“They have the shirt which means history and pride.”
Guardiola will know, however, that this semi-final should be over.
City put on a first-half clinic, netting three goals from the 19th to the 38th minutes, and looked like scoring every time the team went forward.
Guardiola didn’t play a recognised striker, instead flooding his midfield in order to dominate possession and spring forward in attack, and United couldn’t cope.
“We didn’t deal with their system well enough,” Solskjaer said.
When the visitors went 3-0 up courtesy of an own-goal by Andreas Pereira and it was the first time since 1997 that United conceded three first-half goals in a match at Old Trafford.
However, United managed to avoid conceding any more goals and a 70th-minute strike by Marcus Rashford gave Solskjaer’s team a glimmer of hope heading into the second leg.
Both Solskjaer and Guardiola made reference post-match to United advancing from the Champions League round of 16 last season after losing 2-0 to Paris Saint-Germain at home in the first leg.
“We’ve shown before we have been down from a home tie and turned it around,” Solskjaer said.
“PSG is the latest example and we have to believe that we can put on a performance.”
City have won the League Cup the last two seasons and are now unbeaten in 16 straight matches in the competition, dating back to a loss at United in the fourth round in October 2016.
Mindful of how United tore apart his City team on the counter-attack in a Premier League game won by Solskjaer’s side at the Etihad last month, Guardiola chose not to field either of his two strikers – Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus were on the bench – and overloaded the midfield.
“We win and we’re a genius,” Guardiola said, “but if we don’t win I know what will happen. We try to control the counter-attacks because they’re a wonderful team.”
With Raheem Sterling wasting two glorious chances that were teed up for him from crosses from the right, City should have gone into half-time with an even bigger lead.
“You might say we were lucky to be only 3-0 down at half-time,” Solskjaer said.
Riyad Mahrez struck the outside of the post early in the second half and also brought out a good save from the feet of David de Gea, before United finally scored.
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