Nine goals against the same neighbours
Nine. That’s the number of goals Erling Haaland has scored against Manchester United in the Premier League. The latest came on Sunday at Old Trafford, and it was the only one in the 199th Manchester derby.
It took a while to land. The flag went up, offside was given, then VAR overruled it and the goal stood. In between, Old Trafford had time to think it had got away with it. The confusion and anger that followed said enough about what those moments cost a stadium.
City win 1-0. Not much. Enough.
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The first derby after Guardiola
This match carried extra weight for Enzo Maresca. It was the first derby since Pep Guardiola left, which meant the focus was on more than the players’ talent. A head coach handed a machine is always judged by what he does when it starts to splutter.
It spluttered after 23 minutes. Phil Foden was sent off for reacting to a Bruno Fernandes kick. City spent more than an hour down to 10 men at their rivals’ ground, protecting a one-goal lead.
Winning a match like this counts for more than a comfortable 4-0 in September.
United had the ball and the woodwork
United were not under the cosh. They had the extra man, the ball and the chances. Marcus Rashford hit the post. Kobbie Mainoo did too. Two shots off the woodwork, no goals.
Then came one last scare in stoppage time, when Bryan Mbeumo forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into the save of the night.
That is the brutal stat from this derby. United created enough to equalise at least twice and walked away with nothing. For City, the story is mostly about holding on with 10 men for more than half the game. For United, it is this: their opponents put themselves in trouble, and it still wasn’t enough.
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