Manchester City maintained their flawless start to the season with a 2-1 victory over United in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford thanks to goals from Kevin de Bruyne and Kelechi Iheanacho.
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Rooney crossed for Ibrahimovic to head at Bravo and the Swedish striker then saw an effort blocked by John Stones after the City goalkeeper failed to field a stray ball.
City, however, were also unhappy at the officiating, claiming that United’s Eric Bailly should…
But Odion Ighalo netted for Watford in the 41st minute, Troy Deeney equalised in first half stoppage-time and Etienne Capoue put the visitors ahead in the 53rd minute before Jose Holebas made it four 10 minutes later.
City’s forward players gave United no time to settle with their feverish pressing, and it was no coincidence that United’s passing accuracy in their own half dropped from a season average of 93 per cent to 80 per cent before the break.
“We have suffered the first defeat of the season and, after the initial disappointment, I think there is no time for mourning”, he wrote in his weekly blog. How many big matches has he played?
Rashford came on in the second half and looked like he was playing for the U18s against Salford City.
“Two wingers really wide, Silva and De Bruyne the key players in the system, which is what they’ve been doing all season”.
However, Guardiola insisted that there is no bad blood between himself and the United manager. However, making a strong start with a convincing win against Gladbach will send out a statement of intent to the other teams in the tournament. In the boldest call of his short time at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola jettisoned Joe Hart and replaced him with Claudio Bravo to have a footballing goalkeeper in his team.
City were without the suspended Sergio Aguero at Old Trafford, but De Bruyne ensured he was not missed. What is likely, however, Mourinho will make sure United come out firing from the first whistle rather than allowing the opposition to play the way they let City run riot on Saturday. “I’m going to be there when the manager wants me to play”.
“And it is not to punish them, it is to decide in relation to what I have, and what do I have?” Probably in the next big Premier League game I will know who can accept the dimension of the game, which is important.
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The United manager hauled off Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard at half-time and said it was only because he did not want to “destroy them” that he did not substitute them earlier.
