Manchester City were unable to secure a fifth consecutive league victory over their local rivals United this past Sunday in the Manchester derby, and instead were comprehensively beaten, casting doubt over the futures of certain City players, their coach, and the club’s prospects for Champions League football.
Twenty-two broadcasters were present in Old Trafford on Sunday, to witness the 169th Manchester derby, and an estimated 650 million viewers world-wide weren’t deprived of the exhilaration local derbies promise, but often fail, to deliver. They were, however, deprived of City fans’ signature “Poznan” celebration.
In the years prior to World War II, many Mancunians were happy to watch City or United on alternate weeks. In contrast to the prevailing attitudes of support when four former City players helped United win their first title in 1908, local inhabitants of the North-East town have become increasingly partisan since. The huge money at stake for European competition qualification positions has added to the tension of recent derbies, particularly since United’s 20-year spell of Premiership dominance has been threatened by the rise of their Abu Dhabi bankrolled “noisy neighbours.”
United Onslaught
The visiting team began the game at a blistering pace, and it wasn’t long before Sergio Aguero had the ball in the United net after a sustained spell of City pressure. United initially struggled to cope with the speed of City’s movement, but knowing there was 82 minutes still to play, they kept their composure as City continued to press, narrowly avoiding conceding a second goal in quick succession. However, once the midfield of Michael Carrick, Juan Mata, and Ander Herrera started to play the ball into the spaces either behind or in front of City’s defensive lines, those tantalizingly out-of-reach passes began to instil doubt in the City psyche.
