Analysis: Manchester United 1 Manchester City 2

Premier League, Monday 8^th April 2013

Manchester United succumbed to a home defeat against their rivals City in what was billed as a rather irrelevant derby. A Vincent Kompany own goal was sandwiched in between two City strikes as the team in blue were better on the day. Here’s some analysis:

Space for City

United simply afforded too much space for City to play in. In recent games against Chelsea, United have successfully shut off spaces in between the lines, and prevented Chelsea from creating anything threatening. Against City however, United afforded the opposition far too much space in between defence and midfield, allowing players like David Silva and Carlos Tevez to thrive. Had United been more forthright in their pressing and positioning they may have grasped more control on the game, as at the Etihad earlier this season. Only in the second half, when United pushed higher up the pitch, did they have any significant control on the game.

Imbalance

In hindsight, there appeared to be an imbalance to United’s play. Despite being relatively poor in possession, Ashley Young added defensive cover and width for United on the left hand side, which resulted in some fruitless forays for City on that side. Elsewhere on the pitch however United were disjointed. Danny Welbeck was full of running on the right, but his lack of natural winger tendencies meant reduced options for Wayne Rooney in particular when in possession. Ryan Giggs was also overrun in midfield, and his insistent attempts at long balls often gifted possession away too often. A tidier possession game with a more natural shape may have helped United better, something like at the Etihad earlier in the season with Tom Cleverley and Antonio Valencia in place of Giggs and Welbeck. Valencia looked lively when come on, a sign of what may have been.

Going Forward

This was a frustrating performance from United, particularly as it was a second successive home defeat to their Manchester rivals. It was however not the terrible performance that many have made out, merely not good enough for a highly-charged derby game. In the general scheme of things though it should matter little, with United remaining twelve points clear at the top of the table. Good motivation, work-rate and wise use of squad should see the Red Devils over the line within the next few weeks, but too many more disjointed performances like this one, and it could be a nail-biting few weeks.

Ratings

[4-4-1-1]: De Gea-6, Rafael-6, Ferdinand-6, Jones-8*, Evra-6, Welbeck-6, Carrick-7, Giggs-5, Young-5, Rooney-6, van Persie-7

(Valencia-6, Hernandez-6, Kagawa-6)

*Man of the match