MANCHESTER.- With goals in the 88th and 90th minutes in the derby against Manchester Cityhe Manchester Unitedwon this Sunday 2-1 on the 16th day of Premier Leaguelengthening the ever-deepening slump of the ‘Citizens’.
City entered the final minutes of the game ahead on the scoreboard, thanks to a goal in the first half by Croatian Josko Gvardiol (36), but United reacted with two final blows that knocked out their host at the Etihad Stadium.
A dangerous loss of the ball ended with Amad Diallo entering the ‘citizen’ area, who was knocked down by Matheus Nunes in an action punishable by penalty. From eleven meters, captain Bruno Fernandes equalized the derby (88) to the chagrin of coach Pep Guardiola, who expressed his anger with fuss from the technical area.
It was not the last nor the worst news for the Spaniard: Diallo himself took the rival defense off guard, passed the ball over goalkeeper Emerson and, into an empty goal, scored the winning goal (89).
With 22 points, Manchester United remains in the middle of the table (12th) but remains just five points behind City, fifth in the table and nine points behind the leader Liverpool (36). The ‘Reds’ also have one less gameso the virtual difference could increase to 12 points.
8 defeats in last 11 games
Across all competitions, City have lost eight of their last eleven games, an anomaly for the almighty citizen machine, which has dominated the domestic football with an iron fist for almost five years and which won its first Champions League in 2023.
United were not doing too well either, after having lost their last two Premier League games against Arsenal (2-0) and Nottingham Forest (3-2).
Important victory for the Manchester United manager
Sunday’s is the most important victory of the Portuguese coach Ruben Amorim since he took office a month ago, and it is a result that once again raises expectations around him, after having lost a bit of steam in recent weeks.
In the rest of Sunday’s games, Chelsea (2nd) host Brentford (7:00 p.m. GMT) with the possibility of getting closer to within two points of Liverpool in case of victory, while Tottenham (13th) hopes to end a streak of two consecutive defeats on their visit to bottom club Southampton.
The 16th round will come to an end on Monday, with a duel of Basque coaches on the benches: Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth (7th) receives Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham (14th).
