City edge through to Wembley but United restore their pride
Wherever in the city Bruno Fernandes was watching this on television, Manchester United’s incoming signing could have been forgiven for wondering if all the talk of his prospective new club’s demise had been greatly exaggerated.
Manchester City may have won the war and, in doing so, Pep Guardiola’s relentless operation will contest a third successive League
Cup final at Wembley against Aston Villa on March 1 – and, remarkably, the chance to claim a sixth domestic trophy from the past seven on offer. But, on a night when the Etihad Stadium breathed a sigh of relief at the final whistle, a patched-up United, reduced to 10 men for the final 14 minutes after Nemanja Matic’s harsh dismissal, could at least claim to have won the battle.
What it means in the grander scheme of things is hard to know. United have now won twice at the Etihad in the space of just over seven weeks but no one would be surprised if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side – masters of boom and bust this season – went and lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford on Saturday, when Fernandes could make his debut.
On the night at least, though, Solskjaer
may wonder what might have been had he been able to call on Marcus Rashford up front, not to mention Scott Mctominay and Paul Pogba in midfield. It was far from a flawless performance and United were indebted to David de Gea for stopping City running riot in a onesided first 20 minutes, and thankful the hosts were horribly wasteful.
There was also a public SOS for strikers before the close of the transfer window tomorrow, when Solskjaer talked about needing “someone who is going to break their nose or toe to score a goal” in what felt very much like an acknowledgement that Anthony Martial will never be that man. And yet, in the absence of a trio of key players, United demonstrated real stomach for the fight. That alone will not be enough in the long run but United’s defiance was embodied by the outstanding Fred and Matic, whose first-half goal had set the cat among the pigeons after De Gea had prevented City from claiming a landslide of first-half goals as they had done at Old Trafford three weeks earlier.
The Spaniard has had his wobbles but there remain few better at the reflex save, be it with the hands or legs, and his heroics in denying first Sergio Aguero, then Riyad Mahrez and Aguero again enabled his team to ride the early storm of pressure. City were also denied a penalty for a push by Harry Maguire in Raheem Sterling’s back.
United just could not get to grips with City’s shape in those early stages. What started as a nominal 3-4-3 had become something more akin to 2-4-4 as City raided forward,
Aguero denied by two diving saves and Mahrez by an outstretched leg from De Gea. But City were unable to maintain that tempo and, as the passes and movement became more sluggish, United began to settle into their shape and foraged for openings. This was never going to be a game of plentiful chances for United and, without Rashford, there was no one to really exploit the wide open spaces on City’s right that the England striker had revelled in during the 2-1 win at the Etihad the previous month. Martial tried but never threatened and, when opportunity did knock in the second half, he blazed a shot into the stands.
United’s goal came against the run of play and from a set-piece. Nicolas Otamendi fouled Mason Greenwood 30 yards out on the left and, from the resulting free-kick,
Fred delivered a ball that Ilkay Gundogan could head only into the path of Matic. The Serb’s swift crack of his left boot seemed to take everybody by surprise. It was a superb hit, the ball crashing in off the inside of the post. Claudio Bravo had no chance but this was still one of those games when City’s stand-in goalkeeper conceded the first shot he faced. United had drawn first blood, just as Solskjaer had craved.
What they lacked in quality, they made up for in effort and organisation. Fred and Matic worked relentlessly as midfield sentries, and the defence was dogged. It was certainly hard to remember too many opponents keeping Kevin De Bruyne this quiet. Still, it was from a pass from the Belgian that Sterling should have levelled. Cutting inside Victor Lindelof and then De Gea,
Sterling delayed his shot long enough for United to recover three bodies on the line before he blazed over. This was more in keeping with the erratic Sterling of three or four years ago and it is now a month since he scored.
David Silva was even more culpable later on. When Maguire was caught in possession by Aguero in the six-yard box, the ball rolled to Silva, who could have side-footed it into the corner. Yet in a rare show of errant decision-making, he elected to pass to Gundogan, giving Maguire the chance to atone for his earlier mistake.
It was hard to see where a second goal was going to come from for United, even if the home supporters were growing restless, and their task grew ever harder when Matic was dismissed. Already booked for a foul on Mahrez, Matic was given a second yellow for blocking off Gundogan. Given how many times we have seen Fernandinho, City’s tactical fouler in chief, go unpunished for similar fouls, Matic could count himself desperately unfortunate.
Solskjaer, who branded the decision “a joke”, had to go for broke. On came Juan Mata as United switched to four at the back. The stage seemed set for Mata to take the game to penalties when United won a free-kick on the edge of City’s penalty area, and it was possible to detect Solskjaer’s frustration that Fred and not the Spaniard took responsibility for taking it. The Brazilian had apparently scored a bunch of similar free-kicks in training this week but he directed that one straight at City’s wall and, with it, all hope fizzled out for United.