Manchester United vs Manchester City, Premier League: Final Score 1-2, City make history with win at Old Trafford

Manchester City have made history. No team in Premier League history has won 14 consecutive games in the same season, and the Blues did it by winning a thrilling Derby against Manchester United at Old Trafford. City were the better team for large periods of the match, but United always kept the game close and made the Blues work for the three points until the very end.

FIRST HALF

The Blues owned the first period, dominating possession and forcing United to defend deep inside their half and not giving the hosts any chance to hurt City on the counter. Gabriel Jesus, David Silva and Raheem Sterling were extremely active throughout the half and combined to create a number of very good chances.

But United have David De Gea, and the goalkeeper kept saving nearly every shot that came his way. Until the 43rd minute, when Nicolas Otamendi beat Romelu Lukaku in the air after a corner and found David Silva, who calmly slotted the ball in the top corner and put the Blues ahead.

City just needed to weather the storm in the final minutes of the half as United looked to equalize before halftime, and things were going well until Fabian Delph hesitated and failed to control a long ball play from midfield, and Marcus Rashford was all alone in front of goal and couldn’t miss.

At halftime, a very dominant performance from City was 99% perfect, but the one bad moment of the half kept the game wide open.

SECOND HALF

The second half was a lot more open, with United committing bodies forward and looking to press high up the pitch to try and force mistakes from the City defense.

But the Blues dealt with the pressure and found an early goal to go ahead once again: after a free-kick from David Silva, Romelu Lukaku tried to clear the ball but ended up kicking it into Chris Smalling’s backside, and the ball fell to Nicolas Otamendi, who easily scored against a hopeless De Gea.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Juan Mata came on from the bench to try and find an equalizer for United as we entered the final 10 minutes, while City tried to keep possession as much as possible and maybe find a third goal to kill the game for good. United had a giant chance when Martial found Lukaku inside the six-yard box, but Ederson made an incredible save with his face and then stopped Juan Mata from scoring the rebound.

City successfully wasted about two minutes of stoppage time with some corner play, and United did not have much time to try and create some chances on desperate long balls forward. The game ended with a 14th straight win for the Blues, who are now 11 points ahead of United and have taken a gigantic step towards the Premier League title. It’s early, but this is a huge moment in the season.

Man City: Ederson; Walker, Kompany (Gundogan), Otamendi, Delph; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Silva; Sterling, Jesus (Mangala), Sané (Bernardo)

Goals: David Silva (43’), Otamendi (54’)

Man United: De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Rojo (Lindelof), Young; Herrera (Mata), Matic; Martial, Lingard (Ibrahimovic), Rashford; Lukaku

Goal: Rashford (45’+2)