Tops
The matches follow one another and are similar for Erling Haaland, who again scored his double on Sunday in Manchester. A non-event, almost a habit that has become weekly since his arrival at Manchester City. On his first goal, scored from the penalty spot, he calmly wrong-footed Onana, when the latter had done everything possible to destabilize him. On the second goal scored with a header, an area in which he is sometimes (a little) less comfortable, he is left completely alone by the Mancunian defense and relaxes perfectly in the air to smash the leather and send it at the bottom of the net. Finally, he sends a perfect cross for Foden, an offering that he was quick to transform. At the end of the match, the Norwegian had 13 goals in 13 matches in all competitions, and was the sole top scorer in the Premier League. Let us be careful not to trivialize his extraordinary performances.
In addition to playing a derby on Saturday in Manchester, Jack Grealish also made his hundredth appearance in the Skyeblues jersey. One hundred games during which he won an FA Cup, two Premier Leagues and a Champions League. A starter at Old Trafford, the English striker played an important part in his team’s success. Constant danger on his left side, he forced Onana to save twice. And he is at the heart of the actions leading to the second and third goals. Doubts concerning the enormity of the amount of his transfer upon his arrival at the club (117 million) are now dispelled, the heir of David Beckam has once again silenced his detractors.
In a one-sided game where Manchester United very rarely existed, André Onana was left alone to contain the opposing waves. The only Mancunian to rise to the occasion, he did everything to maintain hope for a long time. Still in full doubt a few days ago, the former interist is coming out of a successful week which should give him back some confidence. After his superb double save in front of Haaland and Foden (8′), he pulled out all the stops in the 20th minute against Grealish and made a save from elsewhere before half-time to preserve the 1-0. After the second goal ‘Haaland, he repels another shot from Grealish and wins a face-to-face with Haaland (71’). A high-level performance, which was not enough of a humiliation for Manchester United.
Flops
A player is said to be transparent when he cannot be seen during the match. The problem for the Mancunian “scorer”, still looking for his first achievement in the Premier League, is that he got noticed. And not for the better. While his team, certainly suffering, resisted City, the young striker conceded a more than avoidable penalty by holding Rodri in the area on a free kick (23′). A penalty synonymous with opening the score, from which his team did not recover. And while he had a huge opportunity in the 31st following a high interception, he did not seize the opportunity to put his team back on level terms. A derby to forget for him.
Considering the sums spent by Manchester United during the last transfer windows, the double pivot established by ten Hag was enough to leave one perplexed: Amrabat and Mc Tominay experienced an ordeal at Old Trafford. Faced with the technical quality displayed by the Skyblues, the two friends ran into the void. And during the rare balls recovered, they were never able to hold it to bring out their team. The exit of Amrabat at half-time in favor of Mason-Mount sounded like an admission of weakness on the part of ten Hag, who did not find the recipe at home.