The Manchester derby had one clear winner, City. Guardiola’s midfielders had the perfect stage to showcase their skill and vision, too much for the Red Devils’ highly defensive team to handle.
Manchester City have won the most recent installment in the Mancuanian derby. Neither the victory, nor the scoreline are much of a surprise. Both teams played their regular game. But while Guardiola’s highly organized, yet inventive midfielders, created numerous chances, United’s highly defensive tactics backfired.
The game found City’s two Silvas on a particularly good day, not that there haven’t many of these this year. In fact, together with Mahrez and Sterling they reeked havoc for United’s defense. David Silva’s opening goal illustrates perhaps best the current difference between the two sides.
Silva was given the ball outside of the penalty area. The Spaniard cleverly pirouetted past Ashley Young, passed on the left side to Raheem Sterling, before continuing his run. Sterling passed the ball over to Bernardo Silva on the opposite side, who put the ball back into the area, on his first touch. It landed back to David Silva, who by this point had long been forgotten by United’s defenders. The Spaniard used his time and space to rifle the shot past David De Gea and into the net.
The rest of the game was much of the same, with United having to find ways of breaking down City’s defense. But there was little time to do that, with City dominating possession and enjoying a 91% pass accuracy.
When United did have the ball it was generally up to Martial or Rashford to try and find an opening. It did work once, when Martial’s pass to Lukaku gave the Belgium striker the opportunity to claim a penalty. While United managed the goal, their offensive build-up suffered throughout. That’s in no small part due to their decision to employthree central midfielders (Fellaini, Matic and Herrera), all largely with defensive roles.
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David Silva was arguably the man of the match. Silva, in fact, is playing one his greatest ever seasons, which may most likely end up being his last in the Premier league. The midfielder managed 47 points in last night’s match.
All part of The Masterplan ⚽️#mancity pic.twitter.com/ThSYIC1PEZ
— Manchester City (@ManCity) November 11, 2018
Bernardo Silva, on the other hand, managed 55 points yesterday, helped by having created 10 goal chances and winning 10 duels. Sterling, playing in a more advanced position, managed 34 points. City’s midfielders, which include plenty of options to switch between players, are the team’s main strength at the moment.
It’s difficult to determine who United’s biggest asset is. Fellaini, playing in central midfield, was perhaps the player the team is most dependent on. And while his work rate cannot be denied (Fellaini scored 27.39 points) it is difficult to depend on him to generate the team’s chances. The same goes for Matic (28.22 points) and Herrara (25.34 points).
Club football will once again be going a slight break, which means that the fantasy football contests from FootballCoin will also be taking a holiday. In the mean time, you can enjoy the card trading option, and study your teams for the upcoming competitions.