Manchester was painted red once again, after Sunday’s highly anticipated derby. The Red Devils came out victors against their cross town rivals in a match that lived up to all expectations.
Louis Van Gaal’s men came from behind to beat Manchester City 4-2 at Old Trafford. With league leaders Chelsea taking all three points earlier in the day, it was a must win game for both sides.
City started the better of the two sides as they took an early lead through Sergio Aguero. The goal served as a wake-up call for the Red Devils, who immediately upped the tempo from there on. It did not take United too long to respond and strangely, it was a dangerous back pass from Phil Jones that started the successful attack. David De Gea thumped the back pass up field and Ander Herrera put in a beautiful low cross towards Ashley Young. Young’s initial shot was blocked but he was lucky enough to get a second chance which he fired into the roof of the net, from close range. With The Sky Blues on the back foot, it was Young yet again involved as he curled in a delicious delivery towards Marouane Fellaini, who made no mistake in heading past Joe Hart.
United’s dominance continued in the second half as Wayne Rooney’s superb pass put Juan Mata through on goal and the Spaniard made no mistake in slotting home to make it 3-1 to United. Ashley Young was involved yet again when he whipped in a great free kick into the box and this time it was Chris Smalling who headed into Hart’s goal to make it 4-1. Aguero added his and his sides second of the match, in what was nothing more than a consolation for City.
Kompany should have seen red
A minute before the half time whistle, Vincent Kompany was lucky enough to get a yellow card in what appeared to be a very dangerous challenge on Daley Blind. The City skipper leaped in with his studs showing and caught Blind right on the shin. Referee Mark Clattenburg consulted with his assistant, who would have believed that Kompany got a bit of the ball. The horror tackle could and should have easily been a straight red, which would have only added to City’s growing list of concerns.
Ashley Young shows why more expensive names were left on the bench
Ashley Young produced a Man of the Match performance, which saw him score one and create two more of United’s goal. It was the first time since March 2012 that Young managed to score and assist a goal in the same game. Young silenced his critics and justified keeping Angel Di Maria in the bench, with an outstanding performance that saw his side win their first derby at home in four years.
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Is Pellegrini’s title defence set to end in a whimper?
City will be gutted as they not only missed out a chance to close the gap behind Chelsea, but also remain in fourth position now. The only positives that City can take out of this game is that their talisman Aguero got back to scoring and their captain managed to escape with just a yellow. With four straight away losses, it looks like its curtains for the Sky Blues in the title race. Now, a staggering 12 points behind the league leaders, Pellegrini will look to end the season on a winning note and ensure that his side finish in the top four.
United targeting Glory
United will look to carry their amazing form into next week’s encounter with Chelsea, as they visit Stamford Bridge. With six wins in a row, the Red Devils are only a point behind second place Arsenal and eight points adrift the top. A win next week for the Red’s will surely provide a new twist to an already exciting title chase.
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The only thing we learn is that they were helped by the hand and say of the officials.without this no way they could have beaten up their livals Mancity.I think only two goals were real but the other two were offsides.