Manchester United defeated Premier League champions Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, scoring twice in the final three minutes to worsen their predicament. City has now won just once in their last 11 games, with eight defeats. Josko Gvardiol’s first-half header had placed Pep Guardiola’s team ahead. But United rallied for only Ruben Amorim’s second league win in five games since taking over last month.
Bruno Fernandes’ penalty equalized before Amad Diallo scored from a tight angle in the final minute of regular time. The defeat left City in sixth place, nine points behind leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
United go up to 12th place, within five points of their city rivals. The Red Devils will be hoping that a spectacular victory will catalyze Amorim to reverse the flow of a rivalry that the City has dominated over the last decade.
Before kick-off, Amorim made a risky decision by leaving Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho out of the United team, stating that he “pays attention to everything”.The United manager may have regretted that decision as early as the 12th minute when Mason Mount went off to continue his injury-plagued season after coming from Chelsea 18 months ago.
After a cagey start, both sides were lacking confidence. It took 20 minutes for Phil Foden to make his first shot on goal, a volley that went just wide of Andre Onana’s goal. However, United’s terrible start under new management can be traced back to their set-piece defense.
For the third time in a row, they conceded from a corner as Kevin De Bruyne’s deflected cross spun perfectly into the path of Gvardiol, who headed in on 36 minutes. A slow-burning derby finally came to life milliseconds later when Kyle Walker and Rasmus Hojlund faced off, with both being booked.