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Manchester United hit Manchester City with a bolt from the blue as the Red Devils registered a 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium against the Cityzens. The result made Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the first manager in Manchester United history to win his first three derbies away at City and managed to keep their club-record unbeaten away run going — ending the hosts’ historic 21-game winning streak in the process.
Manchester United academy graduate Dean Henderson retained his place in the visitors’ goal as he continues to deputize for veteran keeper David de Gea. Edinson Cavani’s absence from the squad meant Anthony Martial led the line and was flanked by in-form Dan James and Marcus Rashford.
Pep Guardiola named a largely unchanged side, with Phil Foden being a notable omission and Gabriel Jesus leading the line. That decision, however, came back to bite the Catalan.
Just over 100 seconds into the game, Jesus committed a foul on Anthony Martial inside his own box, giving the Red Devils the chance to open the scoring from the spot. United’s talismanic Portuguese star Bruno Fernandes stepped up and smashed the ball past an outstretched Ederson Moraes to give his side the lead.
Solskjaer’s men piled the pressure on the hosts on the back of their goal and carved out a couple of opportunities in the following minutes. City gradually grew into the game and began to pin United into their own half as they attempted to level the scoreline.
United, though, defended valiantly to protect Henderson in goal. The league leaders looked uncharacteristically poor in possession, constantly giving the ball away cheaply.
Rodri Hernandez came close to leveling the score after his striker slipped the crossbar on the way out in the second half. However, a wave of United red prevailed once again as Luke Shaw’s sublime finish just five minutes after the restart doubled Manchester United’s lead.
The finish from Shaw capped off what was a brilliant team move that was kickstarted by Henderson in goal. Marcus Rashford and Shaw had a quick exchange and capitalized on an overcommitted Joao Cancelo as the left-back arrowed the ball into the far corner past a rooted Ederson.
Anthony Martial went on to squander a couple of noteworthy opportunities after the second goal, with a one versus one, in particular, being a very poor miss.
Rashford left the pitch after a knock and was replaced by Mason Greenwood. City substitutes Phil Foden and Kyle Walker injected a sense of urgency and energy into the hosts and the midfielder came mighty close to getting one back for his side, but was thwarted by Victor Lindelof.
United ultimately walked away from the Etihad with three points, a clean sheet, and the bragging rights on the night against arguably the most in-form side in world football.
Here are some of the best tweets from the game!
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