By Ethan Aspinall, Mon 15 September 2025 14:51
Manchester City 3 Manchester United 0: match reportThree goals secure all three points for Blues on derby day
Manchester City faced Manchester United on Sunday afternoon looking to avoid an unwanted three defeats in a row following the return from the international break. Three players: Marmoush, Ait Nouri, and Cherki were all ruled out due to injury. New goalkeeper Donnarumma made his debut for the Blues. O’Reilly, Dias, Gvardiol, and Kushanov made up the defence. Rodri, Reijnders, and Bernardo Silva were in midfield with Doku, Foden, and Haaland in attack. Before the game there was a moments applause for former world champion boxer and city supporter Ricky Hatton, who tragically passed away earlier on the day.
City made a strong start to the game immediately troubling United – Haaland narrowly missed within the first 20 seconds but the Blues kept on piling on the pressure. United’s initial chance came around 10 minutes in when Mbuemo struck from just outside the box but was well saved by Donnarumma, the first of many foiled attacking attempts for United. City broke through within 18 minutes, Doku danced around the defence on the right and put a cross in which met the head of Foden into the bottom right corner to put City in the lead.
A few moments later, the Blues almost made it two with Doku on the charge again but the shot from Haaland was blocked. City slowed down for the remainder of the first half and United once again had occasional chances to score but the defence remained stubborn with Kushanov starring for the Blues. Haaland himself also got stuck in with defensive duties, frequently being first to set pieces from United to clear the danger – such as towards the end of the first half from a United free kick.
Despite being 1-0 up, the Blues were still arguably not at their best but this was to soon change come the second half, which was a display of both attacking and defensive brilliance. In the 52nd minute, Doku threaded the ball through to Haaland who chipped the ball over Bayandir to give City a two-goal lead. Moments later, Haaland rounded the keeper and looked set to score into an empty net to make it three, but he slipped and mis-hit the ball which rolled to the post and out. United had another huge chance as Mbuemo hit a fantastic volley towards the bottom left corner but Donnarumma continued to impress using his huge frame to parry the ball away. Moments later, Bernardo played Haaland through on goal and the Norwegian slotted the ball into the bottom left corner to make it 3-0 and the match was all but over. United continued to try and salvage a goal from the game but had no luck whatsoever – either firing blanks or being frustrated by the City defence. Reijnders had the chance to make it four after being 1v1 with Bayandir but he narrowly missed. It was a winning return and one that was needed for Pep’s team whereas Amorim’s woes continued.
The match starts a tough run of fixtures for the Blues with Napoli and Arsenal to come after this but encouraging signs are clear with strong performances from Foden, Haaland, Kushanov, and Donnarumma. The result lifts City from 17th to 8th in the Premier League – albeit still not where they need to be the main thing at this stage would be to get back into the higher positions, which the Blues did so comfortably, the next league match away at Arsenal will no doubt be a tougher test for City in contrast to a lacklustre United side.
Latest News
Search
Archives