Ten Hag for the title?
Sleeping giant well and truly awake thanks to dynamic Dutchman
LET’S get straight to it. Should Manchester United’s equalising goal have been allowed to stand? Of course not. Only in the befuddled thinking of football’s lawmakers was Marcus Rashford not interfering with play when Bruno Fernandes scored in the 78th minute. If, technically, it fell somewhere within the rules, then the rules need changing.
Manchester City’s defenders were drawn to Rashford as he ran on to Casemiro’s through-ball and so was goalkeeper Ederson, who then found himself out of position when Fernandes suddenly became the threat.
To argue that one player’s actions do not cause a reaction from his opponents is absurd.
Without that goal, who knows how the 189th Manchester derby would have turned out?
City’s players were apoplectic, and the protests continued long after the final whistle. Despite Pep Guardiola’s desperate instructions to keep their heads, they conceded a winning goal four minutes later when Rashford prodded home from Alejandro Garnacho’s pass to send Old Trafford into raptures.
That said, one moment of controversy — one goal or one result — does not define this United team. Nothing that happened on Saturday lunchtime was going to change the fact that Erik ten Hag has re-established the club as a major force.
Fernandes said so himself when he spoke at United’s training ground last week.
‘The result will change nothing,’ insisted the 28-year- old. ‘If we win, we will not be more confident. If we lose or draw, we will not be less confident because the team knows what we are capable of doing and what direction we want to go in.’
When Scott McTominay scored to seal United’s last win in the Old Trafford derby amid similar scenes three years ago, it felt like a one-off.
This United are a very different proposition. They came into the game as slight favourites and would have been two up by half-time had Rashford found his scoring touch earlier.
Ten Hag got the big calls right: Luke Shaw in central defence again and Fred as an extra holding midfielder to cut off the supply to Erling Haaland.
It meant United were a little unbalanced further up the field. When City took control after halftime and Jack Grealish headed a deserved goal on the hour, Ten Hag restored Fernandes to his No 10 role, played Rashford through the middle and brought on Garnacho. The three players were central to both goals.
The celebrations brought a rare show of emotion from the Dutchman, who charged down the touchline punching the air as the old place erupted.
‘This is why I came to Manchester United,’ said Ten Hag. ‘This club is a monster. Old Trafford is a stadium with the right vibe and if you manage to light the fire, you get an amazing experience.’
Ten Hag is trying to play down United’s title credentials, but that is getting harder with each passing week after nine victories in a row. If United win again at Crystal Palace on Wednesday, they will be above City when Guardiola’s side kick off at home to Tottenham 24 hours later.
City will be looking to avoid a third defeat in eight days, and that is not a situation Guardiola has found himself in too often.
He was in full animated mode here, stomping and flailing around his technical area. After City were denied a late penalty for Casemiro’s challenge on Haaland, Guardiola ran down the touchline repeatedly lifting up his leg and tapping his ankle like a demented morris dancer.
There was certainly enough to put him on edge. City were slow out of the blocks again, as United were expecting. ‘We have watched City’s last few games, and in the first half they have not been at it at all,’ said Shaw.
It took Kevin De Bruyne 54 minutes to exert a real influence on the game, while Phil Foden,
Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez hardly got going at all. Then there was Haaland’s largely anonymous performance. The Norwegian has not scored for three games now but, of course, the barren run will not last much longer.
More worrying for Guardiola is getting the best out of Haaland without changing too much of what has made City such a dominant force.
‘At the moment, we have that process because when teams are sat in their 18-yard box it is more difficult but, yes, we have to find him a little bit more,’ said Guardiola.
‘It’s true that when you are looking at areas, you have to look at him. But we will do it.’ MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1): De Gea 6.5; Wan-Bissaka 7, Varane 7.5, Shaw 7, Malacia 6.5 (Martinez 90min); Casemiro 7 (McTominay 90), Fred 6.5; FERNANDES 8, Eriksen 5 (Garnacho 72, 7), Rashford 7 (Maguire 90); Martial 5 (Antony 46, 6). Scorers: Fernandes 78, Rashford 82. Booked: Eriksen, Fred, Casemiro. Manager: Erik ten Hag 8.
MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ederson 5.5; Walker 6, Akanji 7, Ake 6, Cancelo 6; De Bruyne 6.5, Rodri 7, Silva 5.5; Mahrez 6, Haaland 5, Foden 5 (Grealish 57, 7). Scorer: Grealish 60.
Manager: Pep Guardiola 6.
Referee: Stuart Attwell 5.
Attendance: 75,546.