Tag Archives: Manchester City

Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United – Match Analysis

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Lineups

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Match Thoughts

The lineups dictated the opening phase: Manchester United opted for experience and hard work in midfield with Giggs, Scholes, Park and Carrick. No doubt the plan would have been to remain compact in the face of Manchester City’s attacks and look for a break. However, it seemed that the less experienced home side were a little in awe of the occasion and Manchester United started strongly, with a couple of half-hearted penalty appeals as shots were blocked.

Manchester City were the team that needed the win, yet it took them 15 minutes to settle and finally seize possession of the ball. The game settled into the expected pattern of City possession with Silva, Nasri, Tevez and Aguero, up against a solid defensive and counterattacking approach from United.

City strong on one wing, United weak on the other: Nasri started the game very well and looked threatening, but he was playing on the stronger side of the Manchester United defence, where Evra was protected in turns by Giggs and Park. On the other side, Smalling and Jones were the weak link, unprotected by Nani, yet City had no real threat on this flank. Early in the season Nasri had played particularly well on the left with Clichy on the overlap, so Mancini should have switched Nasri to the other flank to take advantage of this.

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Nasri on right in first half v United, compared to on the left v Spurs

Smalling appalling: Yet again, Smalling was found wanting. There have been plenty of examples of him letting his man get free to score an unopposed goal this season, most notably in high profile matches such as v Frei in Basel and v Aguero in an earlier derby. Again he made a costly mistake, losing Kompany and getting caught under the ball as City made it 1-0. These errors are so frequent that questions simply have to be asked if he is up to defending at this level – plenty of evidence suggests otherwise.

Aside: Isn’t it funny how nobody criticises errors in man-marking at set pieces?

Nani and Neville illuminate Fergie’s thinking: That Nani started ahead of Valencia was a surprise in itself, but in the buildup to the game Gary Neville explained that Ferguson would have selected him because he gave Clichy a hard time at the Emirates. No matter that that game was in 2010, or that Valencia’s form has been much better than Nani’s of late, or that Nani’s performance on that day over two years ago was greatly exaggerated due to Arsenal’s thoroughly awful defending and Almunia flapping a Nani cross into his own net. If this really is the way Ferguson picks his team (and Neville should know), then some of the sheen comes off Ferguson’s reputation, as that approach is beyond ridiculous.

Conclusions

The “title decider” managed to leave us with two teams tied at the top of the table with two games yet to play. Such is the nature of hype. Having said that, City do have the goal difference advantage, and the momentum from not only doing the double over their rivals but also reeling them in from an eight point lead merely three weeks ago.

Manchester City have withered under pressure once already this season, and so now have Manchester United. Is the title decided? No, but it’s very, very close to being so.

Manchester City 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur – Match Analysis

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With Tottenham’s leading goalscorer unable to play on account of being owned by Manchester City, Harry Redknapp opted for Jermain Defoe as Adebayor’s replacement. The rest of his selection was as expected, with Bale, Lennon, van der Vaart, Modric and Parker. Full of attacking intent, but with Silva, Aguero and Nasri all likely to look to get on the ball in front of the Tottenham back four, Parker would be crucial and would need help from his more attack-minded midfield partners if Spurs were to be successful.

This manifested itself within ten minutes as Aguero found space in front of Tottenham’s back four, cut inside a recovering Parker and fired a shot on goal which was deflected for a corner. If the lineups themselves hadn’t made the Spurs coaching staff aware of the threat, this was a very real demonstration. The rest of the opening phase of the game was relatively quiet as both terms tried to seize control of possession in midfield, although as the game went on it was City who began to take the upper hand.

Manchester City players were released to run at the Spurs defence on several other occasions in the first quarter in the game, finally fashioning the first clear-cut chance as Aguero and Dzeko tackled themselves as they both attempted to sweep home a low cross. It’s not the first time these two have tangled in front of goal, as Dzeko prevented Aguero from scoring a fantastic goal against Wigan this week by stealing the ball off his toe to meekly shoot himself. It is perhaps an indication of Aguero continuing to adapt to this slightly deeper role in and around Dzeko, when his instincts are to play further up the field as he did alongside Forlan at Atletico. Over time they will learn to make complimentary runs instead of ending up in the same place on the pitch.

The only real threat to the Manchester City defence in the opening half an hour came from their own, as Clichy was booked for a needless handball and looked nervous at the prospect of Lennon or Walker getting in behind him. A couple of times he nearly committed to low probability challenges and pulled out at the last minute. He was given some respite as Spurs briefly switched wingers midway through the half, in a move which resulted in the first real work for either keeper as Lennon was robbed of the ball on the halfway line by Richards and City broke on the transition. Aguero again was the man causing the problem for Spurs, working space for the shot in the penalty area but only managing to blast the ball at Friedel who saved well.

This would be the only shot on target in the first half, in a half which was mostly possession based, and evenly matched in that respect. However it was Manchester City who looked more likely to score, too often getting at the Spurs defence and able to work shooting chances in the penalty area. This was mainly as expected based on the lineups, as Parker was overrun. An indication of how easy City were finding it to get at Spurs is shown below; Spurs failed to make a successful tackle in the opening 40 minutes.

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While Manchester City were able to get into the Spurs penalty area on occasion, at the other end Defoe was completely isolated. It is well known that Redknapp tends to pick his strongest team and lets them do what they are best at, but sometimes the opposition’s strengths need to be considered, and Spurs really needed another body in central midfield to protect the defence and begin attacks. Perhaps Livermore for van der Vaart, allowing Modric to push forward?

As it was, no changes were made by either side at the start of the second half. As if to underline the problem, Silva drove inside Modric into yet another gap in front of the back four. Dzeko came deep, drawing Kaboul out of defence leaving a huge gap in the centre of defence for Nasri, cutting in from the left, to finish past Friedel. Finally City’s movement was able to dislodge Parker from his position in front of the defence, and none of the other Spurs midfielders were able to recognise the threat until it was too late.

It started a barmy few minutes where City went 2-0 up as Lescott bundled a flicked-on corner over the line, then a Savic mistake let Defoe in to make it 2-1. Finally Tottenham made it 2-2 with the pick of the goals from Gareth Bale; using the pace of the pass played into him, he steered it over Hart and into the far corner. It was the sort of goal we’ve seen from Gerrard over and over again down the years.

At long last Redknapp exchanged van der Vaart for Livermore, adopting what should really have been their starting lineup. It was noticeable how much more possession Tottenham were able to achieve after the change, particularly high up the pitch; the 5 minutes before and after the change are highlighted below:

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Even as Spurs looked content to take a 2-2 draw as the game drew on, they were more prolific at creating chances after Livermore was introduced, culminating in an opportunity for Defoe to win it, had Bale’s pass not been just slightly overhit with the goalmouth gaping.

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Just as the story was written, Ledley King brought down Balotelli at the death to concede the match-winning penalty. Spurs ultimately leave with nothing, but having managed to level the scores then take control with a move to a better lineup, they can feel aggrieved to not take at least a point.

Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United – Match Analysis

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The team news prior to the game was all about midfield. Manchester City were deprived of Gareth Barry (suspended), and with Yaya Toure reporting for the Ivory Coast it left De Jong as the only defensively-minded midfielder in the starting eleven. Meanwhile Manchester United had called Paul Scholes out of retirement for the game, in a shock move which says as much about the lack of transfer funds in the red half of Manchester these days as it does about Ferguson’s lack of confidence in his current central midfield options. Scholes started on the bench, while Carrick and Giggs started in central midfield.

Manchester City started much stronger than United, who had very little of the ball in the opening ten minutes. It appeared that City had been send out to go for the jugular, with Silva, Nasri, Milner, Johnson and Aguero, and this probably played a factor in the opening goal, as Rooney picked the ball up on the break in a three-on-three situation. He had come deep into what would usually be called “between the lines” but with 40 yards between City’s defence and midfield there was a huge amount of space to work with, and this gave him the advantage when bursting into the box of a running header which beat Pantilimon like a bullet. United 1-0 up, completely against the run of play, but due to City leaving the back door open.

Then, controversy. Kompany was sent off for a tackle which won the ball, didn’t touch another player, and was neither made with “excessive force”, nor did it “endanger an opponent”. Perhaps the most clear demonstration of this was that Nani immediately turned to chase Kompany down having been on the supposed receiving end of this foul, with no thought of appealing to the referee, only of trying to win the ball back. The laws of the game make no special case of two-footed tackles over single-footed ones, despite what commentators may continually claim, the only official differentiation is that a two-footed is less likely to be controlled than a single-footed one. In this case the challenge was perfectly controlled as Kompany won the ball cleanly.

Regardless, City were down to ten men and had to reshuffle, bringing De Jong back into defence in what would be the critical tactical point of the match. Without a defensively minded player in midfield, City were overrun by United for the rest of the first half, conceding two more goals. The first was an expertly taken volley from Welbeck as De Jong and Nasri seemed intent on avoiding being hit by the ball instead of blocking the shot, and the second via a clear penalty conceded by Kolarov. It was clear City needed to change things at halftime to add some competitiveness in midfield, or they could well have been struggling to prevent United taking revenge for the 1-6 at Old Trafford. This they did by bringing on Savic to push De Jong back into midfield, also introducing Zabaleta for the ineffectual Johnson.

Almost immediately after the break it was 1-3, as Kolarov scored a trademark freekick from the right in at the near post. You’d think goalkeepers would recognise this is the area he looks to exploit, but Lindegaard was unable to reach the well-taken shot given his starting position. City started the second half well, no doubt buoyed by the goal and benefitting from the additional steel in midfield. They certainly didn’t look down to ten men.

Teams reduced to ten men usually struggle because the natural move is to remove a striker so that the midfield and defence are not overrun; this deprives the team of an out ball to relieve pressure on the defence, meaning that they usually get pinned in defence. Footballing teams tend to suffer less in this situation as they try to play the ball intricately out of defence instead of clearing towards a target man, making the missing man up front less important. City are such a team and so United were unable to dominate the ball and overpower City’s defence.

To attempt to change this, Ferguson introduced Scholes. Reading twitter afterwards would have shown that Scholes attempted 71 passes with 97% completion, but as previously mentioned these stats aren’t particularly enlightening without additional context, and one particular element of context to apply is that one of his two misplaced passes led directly to City’s second goal. Miscontrolling a throw deep in his own half, he only succeeded in playing in Milner who crossed for Aguero to take two unchallenged attempts to score with Smalling characteristically losing him. It’s not the first time Smalling has been caught standing idle while gifting his man a tap in – most notably as United exited the Champions League in Basel – and an area of his game that he really needs to improve if he expects a career at centreback.

At 2-3 the momentum was with Manchester City, even with ten men. There was time for a penalty appeal against Phil Jones (correctly not given), another Kolarov freekick punched into the danger area by Lindegaard inches from Lescott, and even a header wide from Pantilimon, up for a corner at the death.

Given 80 minutes with an additional man, Manchester United looked far from certain after the break, and City certainly showed great strength and mental attitude in what was probably their greatest test of the season so far. At halftime 3-0 down with a man less they could easily have crumbled, but nearly forced a replay. However, Kompany will now be suspended along with Barry, and Mancini was slow to replace his missing centreback after the red card, as moving De Jong back from midfield handed United the advantage. For the red half of Manchester, all that matters is the win.

Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal – Match Analysis

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Arsenal unsurprisingly selected an unchanged team from the one that faced Everton, meaning four centrebacks in defence given their collection of injured wingbacks. The major concern would surely be on the right, where Djourou is the obvious weak link in the side and Mertesacker could struggle against the pace of Aguero. The lack of a true wingback perhaps also led to Nasri’s selection over Milner, as defensive acuity would be at less of a premium. Perhaps Mancini was also hoping for an “old-club” reaction from Nasri, although that wasn’t forthcoming in the recent league cup match at the Emirates between these two sides. Only two starters from that match made today’s Arsenal team, as on that day a City team featuring Nasri, Toure, Johnson, Dzeko and Aguero won with a single shot on target. Of course Balotelli was the big news on the City team sheet today, but would it be the Balotelli which appeared against Manchester United or Liverpool?

The opening phase of the game was intriguing for three aspects. Manchester City were pushing up when Szczesny had the ball, not allowing Arsenal to build from the back and instead forcing him to kick long towards van Persie. At the other end, Arsenal were intent on closing down City in possession and denying them space and time on the ball. Finally Walcott started on the left instead of his more usual right hand side, perhaps to scare Richards into not pushing up the field as often as he would like.

The first real chance came to City on 10 minutes, as they released Zabaleta down the left in behind Djourou much too easily. Zabaleta’s cross was controlled well by Aguero but he blasted his shot wildly over. Szczesny was called into action shortly afterwards to make a comfortable save as City began to settle and test Arsenal’s defensive solidarity which was looking suspect in these early moments.

Arsenal weathered this early storm though and began to create chances themselves. Gervinho was released through the inside right channel to test Hart, who saw the ball squirm under his body and trickle wide, then from the resulting corners Ramsey forced another palm around the post from Hart before Vermaelen got in a weak header. Possession was evenly matched in the opening 20 minutes, although Arsenal had the better of the territory as most of Manchester City’s possession was in their own half while Arsenal were able to retain the ball further up the field at the far edge of the centre circle.

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That chalkboard does reveal Manchester City’s focus on the wings, particularly in trying to use Zabaleta on the overlap around Nasri to test Djourou, and Walcott’s tracking back now that he had switched back to his more usual flank.

The game was certainly open, with even Koscielny driving forward from defence to join a five-on-three which led to a last ditch tackle by Kolo Toure on Ramsey. With four centrebacks on the pitch it wasn’t as if he was lacking cover. At the other end Aguero was playing really well in the buildup but his finishing was leaving a lot to be desired. Something else leaving a lot to be desired in the first half was Walcott, who was having minimal impact.

Early in the second half Djourou was subbed for Miquel due to what looked like an injury, but it did mean shifting Koscielny to right back where City had looked most dangerous, and Vermaelen moving into his best position in the centre. Almost immediately Balotelli was released down the left in behind, forced a save from Szczesny and Vermaelen could prevent Aguero from following up but not Silva, who was able to open the scoring from two yards. The reshuffle in the Arsenal defence seemed to cause enough confusion in the buildup to the goal to allow City in.

The goal seemed to spark Arsenal into life, with Walcott drawing a good save from Hart and van Persie putting the ball into the back of the net from a borderline offside position. Suddenly the game was open, there was no suggestion City were going to sit on this lead, and Arsenal would of course go all out for an equaliser. City had a glorious chance to make it 2-0 as Nasri was released in behind, but he overhit his pass with two City players waiting for a tap in. Then Zabaleta hit the post as Koscielny was too eager to break and gifted him the ball. Another borderline offside decision went against Arsenal as van Persie drew a great save from Hart.

It was frenetic stuff as all tactics seemed to have gone out the window. Both teams were causing problems and both defences were under pressure. Arsenal brought on Arshavin for Walcott who had been quiet apart from one good attempt. With 20 minutes to go the outcome of the match was still well and truly in the balance. Mindful of this, Mancini withdrew Balotelli for Milner to try to shore up the City midfield. This seemed to put the ball in Arsenal’s court as they seized possession and drew yet another debatable decision from the officials as Richards appeared to handle the ball in his own penalty area. Prior to this Arshavin proved he could do just as well as Nasri by also fluffing a simple cross to two Arsenal players waiting for a tap in.

Arsenal then brought on Chamakh for Mertesacker to search for an equaliser, raising the question of if simply pushing Mertesacker up front might have been more of a threat given Chamakh’s recent form. Vermaelen drew another fine save out of Hart, then curled yet another attempt just wide, but Arsenal were unable to find an equaliser.

An entertaining game in which both sides had plenty of chances and the result could have gone either way. In the end a defensive shuffle caused enough momentary confusion to allow Manchester City to take the three points, but perhaps the two men of the match were the two goalkeepers as the scores would have been much higher without their excellent displays.

Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City – Match Analysis

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Manchester City may not be much longer for this season’s Champions League, and they would need to refocus quickly after their midweek disappointment to continue their phenomenal early form in the Premier League. Liverpool’s first half approach against Chelsea denied their opponents time on the ball to create, and a similar approach would surely be required here; moreso as Chelsea don’t possess a creative talent like Silva. This led Liverpool to a more solid lineup of Kuyt, Henderson, Lucas, Adam and Downing across the middle. Manchester City brought in Nasri for some added creativity should Silva be constrained; creativity which wasn’t forthcoming when Silva was effectively silenced by Rodwell earlier in the season.

The game started in quite an open manner, as it was clear Liverpool were surprisingly not going to be as proactive at closing Manchester City down as they were against Chelsea. Silva was often able to adopt his usual position between the lines and receive the ball early on, and Manchester City were able to work the ball around the final third with relative ease, albeit without troubling Reina. Suarez was being his usual awkward self, causing similar troubles for Kompany as he did Ferdinand earlier in the season.

In truth, Manchester City’s lack of goal threat was more to do with their own lack of quality than Liverpool’s defending, with both Nasri and Milner guilty of wasting good crossing opportunities. One player who didn’t waste a good crossing opportunity was Silva, who delivered a corner perfectly for Kompany to score, past Kuyt’s despairing attempt at a fingertip save and a red card.

Almost immediately it was 1-1, as the latest in a long line of pointless Adam shots from distance was inexplicably turned in by Lescott, who got so muddled with his feet that it almost looked as if he had planned to sidefoot it past Hart all along. Adam consistently wastes possession by tamely shooting from distance – often from the halfway line – but at least there was finally some end product from this, even if it did require help along the way.

The equaliser sparked Liverpool and the crowd to life, and they were able to create some great goalscoring opportunities in the following minutes, particularly when the best piece of play of the first half led to Hart saving with his legs from an Adam snapshot. City seemed to lose their way in this phase of the game, almost as if they would be content to just make it to halftime without conceding again and regroup.

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The second half started in a similar vein to most of the first half, with surprisingly few shots given how open the game was, and at stages was getting fractious as tackles began to fly in and the officials began to make mistakes in favour of both teams. Manchester City certainly hadn’t stepped up a gear after the break as they usually do in the Premier League; was this a sign of tiredness after midweek as displayed by Arsenal and Manchester United yesterday? Downing drew a save from Hart as he choked a volley into the ground, but still the keepers were relatively untroubled.

Mancini introduced Balotelli for the ineffective Nasri, shifting their balance further forward, but this had become a game of mistakes rather than tactics. Suarez and Kompany were having a fantastic individual battle, with Kompany repeatedly conceding fouls despite being on a yellow card. The slapstick had begun, with Lucas and Balotelli indulging in some synchronised slipping at one end, and Lescott repeatedly hitting clearances against Kuyt in his own six yard box at the other, in a strange mimicking of Taylor and Hernandez yesterday. Still it remained 1-1, fantastic entertainment but light on quality.

Balotelli added to the insanity (who’d have thought it) by getting himself sent off, leaving Liverpool to play the final ten minutes a man up, although they only fashioned one real opportunity when late sub Carroll drew a fine save from Hart. Just before this, it looked as if Silva was about to steal the three points on the break, but he dithered and dallied for so long that the entire Liverpool team managed to get back on the line before he was able to shoot.

All in all, an entertaining game with a little bit of everything, but very little quality on display. Lucas was perhaps the only exception, being the standout performer on the day. Liverpool will be disappointed with the draw, Manchester City will be glad to escape with their unbeaten start intact, and the press will be delighted that they can drag out the “unbeaten season?” question for at least another week, even though the season has six months yet to play.

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Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City – Goal Analysis

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0-1 Kompany

Kompany and Toure make a run to the near post on this corner, while Johnson (marking Toure) and Kuyt (marking Kompany) track them. Kompany makes a run between Toure and Johnson, cutting Kuyt off.

Kuyt runs into Johnson, knocking him over, then makes a despairing dive to block Kompany’s header with his outstretched arms. Fortunately for him, his desperate attempt at getting a red card fails as Kompany heads it over his hands and in.

1-1 Adam

Adam seems to have stopped shooting constantly from the halfway line; now he prefers to take his wildly inaccurate possession-conceding shots from 35 yards out.

Luckily this time Lescott was on hand to steer it past the wrong-footed Hart into an empty net. It’s a shame, as it will only encourage him to keep taking ridiculous shots.

Manchester City 3-1 Newcastle United – Goal Analysis

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1-0 Balotelli

FIFA Laws of the Game, Law 12:

Handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with his hand or arm. The referee must take the following into consideration:

  • the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand)
  • the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball)
  • the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an infringement

Taylor has raised his arm into this unnatural position before the shot is taken, and so the handball is deliberate regardless of the three “considerations” listed above. If this wasn’t the case, defenders could charge down shots with their arms outstretched and use the defence that as it was ball-to-hand it shouldn’t be handball, even though they’ve quite deliberately used their arms to increase their chances of blocking the shot.

2-0 Richards

A terrible pass from Aguero seems simple for Taylor to deal with.

He takes a touch, allowing Richards to close down, then realises the pressure and tries to flick the ball away, only for it to deflect off Richards nicely for him to volley home.

3-0 Aguero

Cameraman fail, but clearly a penalty on Richards by Ben Arfa. We all know footballers are stupid, but how many brain cells does it take to figure out that a tackle like this in the penalty area isn’t a good idea?

3-1 Gosling

A knockdown from Ba allows Newcastle to break at the Manchester City back four with numbers, as the entire City midfield is caught upfield late in the game.

The through ball from Perch finds Ba one-on-one with Hart, who partially saves, only for the ball to drop for Gosling to tap in.

Queens Park Rangers 2-3 Manchester City – Goal Analysis

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1-0 Bothroyd

First of all, it’s important to clear this up. It was a freekick, despite what Chris Waddle says or Match of the Day insinuate (the MotD commentators weasel out of actually giving opinions by saying “is this a foul or not?”, implying that it wasn’t but in abject fear of actually committing to it). Whenever you see this:

…the commentator will claim (or suggest) without fail that it shouldn’t be a foul because the player has tripped over his own feet. Think about it; what they are actually saying is a player who is paid inordinate amounts of money to run around and kick a ball has instantaneously forgotten how to run without tripping over his own feet. Which is of course absurd. What is more absurd is that somebody like Chris Waddle who played the game for years has no idea what a tap tackle is:

The slightest touch of a player’s foot as they go to bring it forward is enough to deflect it into their standing leg. Try it on someone who is walking and they’ll stumble like an idiot (we used to do it all the time at school), but do it on someone who is running and there is no way they can avoid falling over. Next time you see a player kick his standing leg mid-run, look for a telltale tap or brush like the one above just before – and ignore Chris Waddle and Match of the Day.

Anyway. From the fully justified and correct freekick, Richards decides to mark thin air, while Savic is marking Bothroyd by being in front of him and further from goal. Being shorter than his man, he practically guarantees that he will be unable to prevent Bothroyd from heading the ball if the ball goes over his head.

The delivery is good enough, Savic is out of the game and Richards is too far away to prevent an uncontested nod in.

1-1 Dzeko

Apologies for the poor screencaps on this goal, the replays were awful.

Young loses track of either Dzeko or Ferdinand, or possibly both. The gap he leaves between himself and Ferdinand is begging for a ball to be played through, and being 5 yards up the pitch gives Dzeko plenty of room to judge his run to stay onside. Then, once Milner plays it through, he doesn’t make an effort to get back so has no effect on how the play develops from this point.

Once in, all Ferdinand has to do is keep Dzeko going down the line. It’s not the most complicated of tactics, as it’s something he would have heard in every training session since he was eight years old. But he allows Dzeko to turn inside him almost without effort, and from that point on Dzeko holds all the cards and slots into the bottom corner.

1-2 Silva

An awful cross from Traore sets Manchester City up to break down the left, with six Queens Park Rangers players caught in the final third.

As the ball is played in to Silva, Barton realises Milner is waiting for a set on the edge of the box, and moves to close him down. It’s the right move as Silva is already blocked and Ferdinand is also in a position to cover any move by Silva towards the near post, while Milner would be allowed a free shot at goal if Barton is drawn to the ball. Silva recognises this move and takes the ball on himself.

Ferdinand gets completely suckered in to the layoff to Milner, and abandons his perfect near post position, where is is placed to deal with Silva, to adopt a position in the middle of goal where he can do nothing about a potential Milner shot except block his keeper’s view. So as Silva moves to the near post he has a free shot at the bottom corner and makes it 2-1.

2-2 Helguson

Almost a carbon copy of the move for the first goal. Whenever there’s an angle like this and a man on the wing, it’s begging for the ball to be played through. In this case it’s Traore in behind Johnson and Richards.

Savic nearly cuts out the cross, but inadvertently deflects it to Bothroyd, then plays Helguson onside as it hits him on the back and goes in.

2-3 Toure

QPR are set up well, with tight banks of four and five, meaning Manchester City can only pass the ball from side to side in front of them.

However, when Kolarov receives the ball on the left wing, Young simply doesn’t close him down, giving him all the time he requires to set the ball and swing a cross in.

Meanwhile in the centre, Gabbidon provides Toure with a free header. It wasn’t a run from deep, Toure was his man throughout the move, he just never got himself in a position to compete for the ball.

Manchester City 3-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers – Goal Analysis

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1-0 Dzeko

He may have made an outstanding fingertip save to deny Dzeko just before halftime, but just after, Hennessey showed that he’s not quite so talented with his feet. He seems to be under no pressure as Aguero begins to close him down.

It wasn’t even that heavy a touch, but if a striker is getting this close you really should give up on the idea on playing it downfield and instead angle the ball towards the touchline to give yourself as much room as possible. Even rolling the ball square for a throw is preferable to getting your kick blocked in this situation. Stearman is making no effort to get back and offer a passing option, which is standard practice for a defender if the keeper has the ball; at this point a pass is not on but at least he would have been in a position to help out when the kick was blocked. As it is the block falls to Dzeko to tuck away.

2-0 Kolarov

Aguero turns the Wolves defence with a run in behind, and as they scamper back he pulls the ball back to Silva in space for a shot. Kolarov is alive to the threat of a rebound so moves into the area at the back post.

Edwards was always struggling to get back, but Stearman was slow to react, leaving a tap in for Kolarov once the ball rebounds from Hennessey.

2-1 Hunt

People are beginning to take note that Hart has a tendency to spill the ball in front of him, even on relatively simple shots such as this one. It gives no choice to Kompany other than to push Doyle over as he approaches the ball to tap in the rebound, and it’s a penalty and a red card.

3-1 Johnson

With Wolves chasing the equaliser against ten men, Balotelli breaks and they have to chase back. In much the same way as for the second goal, this leaves space for a midfielder if the ball is set back, and this time it’s Johnson with plenty of time to line up a shot into the bottom corner from 30 yards.

Hennessey is unsighted by his defenders, and only just starts to move as the ball is already halfway to the goal.

Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City – Match Analysis

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Manchester United backed themselves by going for their usual attacking lineup of two wingers and two forwards, with Welbeck alongside Rooney and Young given yet another opportunity to make an impression on a game; something he hasn’t managed since August. Park was the more solid option not taken by Ferguson. Mancini surprisingly elected not to play Nasri, who would surely have challenged Smalling’s positional fallibility, or Dzeko who would have caused Ferdinand and Evans problems in the same way that Suarez did for Liverpool. Instead Milner and Balotelli were selected to offer solidity and absurdity.

Manchester United started the stronger in a disjointed opening period, with Young making the most of some soft but silly challenges on the left wing. There was however little threat for Hart in these opening exchanges, although Manchester City were struggling to get a foothold in the game.

It would be 15 minutes before Manchester City would put any meaningful possession together, with Richards pushing down the right as Young looked confused as to his defensive responsibilities. It wouldn’t result in work for De Gea as their shot was deflected wide, but this and a clever run in a tight area from Silva, beating Young, Evra and Fletcher twice, would bring Manchester City into the game. Balotelli would shortly bring them into the lead with a calmly-placed shot into the corner from the edge of the area after a pullback from Milner.

It was certainly against the run of play, although there was a clear sense that Manchester City were content to soak up pressure and back themselves defensively; a sense that was supported by the statistics in the opening half an hour. Although possession was certainly in Manchester United’s favour, shots were coming in at their own goal, rather than at their opponent’s. There would be no prize for guessing which side would appear higher in this site’s efficiency analysis based on the opening 30 minutes.

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Manchester United were struggling with a lack of creativity in the centre of the pitch. Fletcher and Anderson aren’t known for their incisive play or ability to unlock a defence, and with Barry and Toure sitting in front of the defence there was very little to concern Hart. Looking at the Manchester United bench didn’t suggest an obvious replacement, and demonstrated why the summer chase for Sneijder was necessary. It’s not a problem for Manchester City.

This was the least of Manchester United’s problems after two minutes of the second half, as Evans was correctly shown a red card for pulling back Balotelli. Suddenly the pattern of play would switch completely, with Manchester City taking control of possession and their opponents forced to play on the break. In a sense this would play into Manchester United’s hands – if they could break with the pace of Welbeck, Nani and Young, then a playmaker would be unnecessary. Of course, keeping Manchester City at bay with a man less would be more of an issue.

Manchester United did create some chances in the ten minute spell after the red card, the best falling to Young who could only choke his shot well off target, where Milner deflected it back on to him and behind. However, Milner, Silva and Balotelli combined to score the second and kill the game as a contest and spectacle. The only interest for the neutral now would be how many Manchester City would score and if there would be a consolation.

Red cards make drawing conclusions from matches meaningless, but Manchester United should be concerned at their ineffectiveness in the first half when the sides were evenly matched, as it doesn’t bode well for future matches against strong defences this season. The lack of threat to Hart’s goal and their own frailties in protecting De Gea’s did not bode well for the second half even before the red card. Further, the scale of the defeat to their bitterest rivals will send a shock through the Manchester United ranks, and it remains to be seen if the second humiliation of a top four team at Old Trafford this season has the same knock on effects on the losers as the first did.