MANCHESTER – Manchester City were victorious in the 197th Manchester derby and their 3-0 win against Manchester United piled more pressure on Ruben Amorim.
MORE — Man City 3-0 Man Utd player ratings | Amorim reaction | Guardiola reaction
Pep Guardiola’s side proved the doubters wrong and showed how their revamp may look going forward, while Amorim will be struggling to explain many performances from his players as they were second best throughout and plenty of stars felt sorry for themselves.
We learned that Erling Haaland continues to score goals galore (what a shock!) and here’s a look at the other big winners and losers from a Manchester derby that City dominated.
Winners
Jeremy Doku — Two assists and a fine individual display showcased that the Belgian winger can be a key part of this new-look City side. He received a standing ovation when he was subbed off late on and is becoming a firm favorite. Pep Guardiola and other key figures at City have hinted they have to adapt and change their style of play slightly and Doku’s pace and directness is exactly the kind of path they will go down. With Rayan Cherki, Savinho, Phil Foden and Omar Marmoush around, the competition is huge for a place to start out wide. This display suggests that Doku has made the left wing spot his own. His skill to get away from Luke Shaw to set up the first goal was mesmeric and the pass he played through to Haaland for City’s second was perfectly timed. Doku kept getting into a lovely pocket of space ahead of the right-sided center back and behind the right-sided holding midfielder and he excelled in having that kind of freedom. Doku is still only 23 years old and the best is yet to come. For many years it felt like his main strengths didn’t quite fit at City. Now they are exactly the kind strengths City will be built around.
Gianluigi Donnarumma — There was a moment in the first half where Pep Guardiola waved at his new goalkeeper to go long with a quick pass out rather than short. Gigi put his thumb up. In the second half he then went long and Guardiola gave him the thumbs up. Guardiola wants very specific things from his goalkeeper but he’s shown he’s willing to be flexible. Donnarumma was axed by PSG for not being good enough playing out of the back. That is usually what Guardiola loves in a goalkeeper over shot-stopping. But he’s made an exception and it looks like being a heck of a decision. Donnarumma has a huge presence in goal, his wingspan is incredible and the way he punched away crosses under pressure and the ball flew 30 yards up the pitch brought calm to this oft-shaky City defense. Then you have Donnarumma’s incredible shot-stopping ability and he flexed that too to deny Bryan Mbeumo in sublime fashion with a fingertip save at full stretch. Donnarumma has only been at City for a few days but he already looks at home and it already seems like Guardiola is going to be rewarded for signing a pure goalkeeper rather than a goalkeeper who is great with his feet but not so much with his hands.
Phil Foden — The local lad from Stockport was back on the pitch and back doing what he does best: demanding the ball, being silky when he was on it and timing his runs into the box to perfection. Along with Doku, he set the tone for this City win. Foden is just 25 years old and he has so many trophies to his name and so much experience. He now has the next task: to become the undisputed creative leader and heartbeat of this team. After the departure of Kevin de Bruyne this summer, the role is there for Foden to take. After a shaky start to the season for City, Foden has emerged as one of the new wave of leaders who can define City’s next generation.
Losers
Benjamin Sesko — Heckled off by the home fans when he was substituted, and perhaps some of the United fans in the away end too, a tough start to life at United continues for $98 million summer signing Benjamin Sesko. He had just 20 touches. The Slovenian striker looked off the pace from the start and aside from one long ball over the top that he latched on to and forced Donnarumma to make a routine save, there was very little to see from him. Sesko is young and new to the Premier League and his admission that the pace of the league has caught him out is very honest. There is a lot of pressure on his shoulders and that was heaped further on him as he was chucked in to start this game with Matheus Cunha out injured. It did him no favors. Joshua Zirkzee is the next cab on the rank to start up top. and after this display from Sesko it would be very surprising if he starts again for United anytime soon.
Manuel Ugarte — It was very surprising to see the Uruguayan midfielder get the start and it did not work. City overpowered United in midfield and Ugarte’s lack of mobility was shown up as United’s two against City’s three didn’t add up. Tasked with being the main defensive protection for United’s back three, Ugarte was dragged out of position and was totally lacking in physicality. Ugarte isn’t a bad player but the role he was given on Sunday was too big for him. He’s shown very little in a United shirt to suggest he can be anything other than a back-up holding midfielder or a secondary number six in a three-man midfield. His mobility issues were shown up badly against City and he was swamped. He always looks panicked and slightly surprised by the pace of the game going on around him. That is the opposite of what you want from a player in the engine room who is supposed to help you control the tempo of the game.
Ruben Amorim — Chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning!” rang out from the City fans and at this point it seems like a matter of when, rather than if. Amorim’s insistence to stick with the 3-4-2-1 formation is what will get him fired and he just doesn’t have the players to play that way. But he doesn’t have the will to change things up. Amorim is stubborn and has his philosophy and that is fair enough. But at this point he’s tried just about every combination of players he has in his preferred formation and it isn’t working. And it doesn’t look like working. City almost felt sorry for United as they spurned several glorious chances and then just gave United the ball late on as they made a mess of a few decent opportunities and failed to score from open play again. Amorim has a key three games coming up before the next international break in early October with a home game against Chelsea followed by a trip to Brentford and a home game against Sunderland. Anything less than six points from those three games and it could be the end for Amorim. Would that change much long-term at United? Probably not. But somebody more pragmatic and less idealistic can get a much better tune, and production, out of these players.
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