City’s proud winning run and long unbeaten run is over after a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Manchester United.
SUMMARY
City got off to the worst possible start when Gabriel Jesus made a sloppy tackle on Anthony Martial after just 38 seconds, resulting in a penalty converted by Bruno Fernandez after only two minutes.
United seemed to be using the same formation and strategies that saw them dominate the first half of the 2019 Etihad derby, when City struggled to contain the Reds’ attack.
In an uncharacteristically jittery first few minutes, City may have fallen further behind, but they settled down and began to challenge at the other end, though there were a few moments when the pass was found wanting.
City seemed a lot more dangerous in the second half, but they didn’t really put Dean Henderson to the test.
As City pushed for an equalizer, Rodrigo hit the crossbar three minutes after the restart, but Luke Shaw doubled the visitors’ lead with a low shot past an unsighted Ederson moments later.
Also for this City side, which was far from their best, it was still going to be a long way back from there.
OFF-COLOUR CITY’S PAIN
Throughout our incredible unbeaten streak, Pep Guardiola has stated that his team will inevitably lose points and be defeated.
It was made even more frustrating by the fact that it happened against Manchester United.
Now, the manager will be interested in seeing how his players respond to a setback that has harmed the Premier League leaders’ pride.
City retain their lead at the top of the table, but will be looking to bounce back quickly with games against Southampton and Fulham coming up in the next six days.
CITY, YOU HAVE IT ALL TO PLAY FOR…
Even though the loss to United is painful, it is just a small setback for a team still chasing four major titles.
With a comfortable lead at the top of the table, a Carabao Cup final on the horizon, an FA Cup quarter-final against Everton, and a 2-0 lead over Borussia Monchengladbach in the Round of 16 of the Champions League.
Derby defeats are tough to swallow, but in the grand scheme of things, they’re just a blip on the radar in an otherwise near-flawless season.
WHAT IT MEANS
City are 11 points clear of second-placed Manchester United with 10 games remaining.
Our winning run of 21 games ends along with a 28-game unbeaten run.
WHAT’S NEXT?
City takes on Southampton on Wednesday evening at the Etihad (kick-off 6pm).
Then it’s off to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham next Saturday evening (8pm kick-off).
PEP REACTION
“In football everything can happen – everything can happen it is a fact – we can win the next games or we can lose the next games.
“People always say ‘Pep says the same after 16 or 17 wins’ – it is because I know everything can happen.
“We have done incredible, but today the news is we lost so congrats Man United for this victory but we are trying to win the Premier League.
“We will try to be champions and we need to win six or seven games and now when you arrive in the last 10 games, everything is going to be shorter.
“Our opponents would have to win all their games and then we would have to lose for or five.
“What we need to do is recover, tomorrow I will not I will speak to the team and the way we played today and on the day of the game I will tell the team how incredible they are because of the way we lost today and kept going to the end.
“Having the margin we have; it is in in our hands but what we need now is new fresh legs next Wednesday and try to win another game.”
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