Alex Keble reviews Manchester City’s 3-0 victory over Manchester United and analyses where the match was won.
Overview
There have been greater humiliations than this. There have been defeats more portentous and more meaningful. But as blue shirts strolled around a quiet Old Trafford in the second half, carving open the hosts at will, arguably never before has the gulf between these two clubs felt so large.
What will most hurt Man Utd supporters is how easy this was; how little it took for Man City to elegantly and serenely dismantle their rivals.
It was perhaps City’s best performance of the season so far, their rhythms of possession as slick and their command of the narrative as absolute as anything witnessed during their run to the Treble last season.
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But they were made to look good; allowed to play however they wished by a United side looking more passive, weary and aimless than at any other point in the Erik ten Hag era.
Perhaps the most damning thing of all is that this is not a particularly damaging defeat, nor is it a result that will live especially long in the memory of even Man City supporters. It was, quite simply, a very good team sweeping aside an opponent nowhere near their level.
Here are the talking points from Man City’s 3-0 victory over Man Utd:
Guardiola’s tactical flourish exposes Dalot
The tactical story of this match was relatively straightforward, which, again, is pretty damning from a United perspective. There was an obvious problem on their right flank and they could not find a way to solve it.
Bernardo Silva was technically playing as a central midfielder alongside Julian Alvarez, but in reality he constantly drifted out to the left wing to support Jack Grealish, essentially meaning Man City played with two left wingers.
Ten Hag uses an unusual man-to-man press in open play, which means that rather than sit in a set shape, his midfielders are regularly pulled around as they stay tight to markers.
Today, that was a serious problem because Bruno Fernandes was constantly drawn in to mark John Stones, leaving Diogo Dalot alone with Bernardo and Grealish – a recipe for disaster. At other times, Fernandes simply didn’t track back properly.
Erling Haaland’s chance just before half-time was the perfect example, built down the left as Bernardo crossed to the back post:
An almost identical move happened at the beginning of the second half, only this time it was Dalot caught of position – and this time it led to the match-defining second goal:
This combination happened over and over again. United had no response, and it was only a matter of time before Man City would make it count.
Man Utd’s build-up issues continue
We had anticipated Man Utd having some success on the counter-attack in this game, but aside from an early flurry as Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund looked to break the defensive line, United just couldn’t break.
That was because their passing out from the back was particularly poor, meaning Man City could easily keep them pinned.
Sofyan Amrabat struggled to make himself available in a passive first half that led to his substitution at the break, while Andre Onana’s distribution was below par.
Frankly United’s entire shape was a little off, with players struggling to space out correctly or form a pattern that allowed quick passing around the Man City press. The team’s "average position" map looks very unusual:
Unable to link the centre-backs with Amrabat and Christian Eriksen in the first half, Ten Hag dropped Scott McTominay into the deeper role in the second half, but it had virtually no impact.
Ten Hag’s tactical ideas are built around hard pressing and graceful passing sequences out from the back. On today’s evidence – a messy performance on and off the ball - Man Utd are a long way off where the manager wants them to be.
Haaland versus Hojlund typifies gulf in class
That was the tactical side, yet it was the technical gap between the two teams that really allowed Man City to win so comfortably.
The best representation of that is comparing Haaland to Hojlund, the former an elite striker at the top of his game and the latter still raw and still learning.
Haaland scored twice and assisted City's third, taking him to eight goal involvements in only three matches at Old Trafford. Hojlund gave away the penalty for the opener and fluffed a 1v1 opportunity that would have made amends for the earlier error.
It shows us, as if we didn’t already know, that City and United are at completely different levels right now.
Pep Guardiola’s side moved back to within two points of the top while Man Utd, without a win against any of the top nine this season, are already a huge eight points off the top four.
They have lost half of their opening ten league matches, their most defeats at this stage of a top-flight campaign since 1986/87. Statistically, then, United’s current malaise is worse than anything seen under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Jose Mourinho.
The eye test leads to a similar conclusion. United’s plan was indecipherable and the club appear to be moving further away from a coherent vision.
At this rate, it won’t be long before supporters begin to question the man in the dugout.
