Manchester City came out on top against Manchester United on Sunday, who must decide if defeat was down to one refereeing error or not
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Enzo Maresca, head coach of Manchester City, celebrates with his coaching staff after the Premier League 2026/27 match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on September 13, 2026 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey - Danehouse/Getty Images)
Enzo Maresca celebrates with his Manchester City staff
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Manchester City fans turned up to Old Trafford hoping to smash their rivals, but the manner of Sunday's win was arguably more satisfying for them. Reduced to ten men for the majority of the contest, they saw their team dig in and then score a winning goal that shouldn't have been allowed and had everyone else in the ground fuming.
Refereeing errors are as glorious to be on the right side of as they are horrendous to be on the wrong side of, and even more so in the VAR error where mistakes are supposed to be eradicated. City fans at Old Trafford know that more than most, given a near-identical goal went in United's favour in this fixture in 2023 and then Diogo Dalot wrongly stayed on the pitch last season for raking his studs down Jeremy Doku's knee.
In terms of the season though, one incident from 90 minutes is far less relevant than the rest of the performance. City would not have won had they not stuck to their principles, adjusted their tactics, and to a man performed to their level - and if United had been half-decent.
Old Trafford has been a bear pit for City in recent years and the Foden red card gave United everything they needed to claim another derby victory and kickstart their season. Instead, they were dreary for the rest of the game - not creating a decent chance until injury time when they were losing - as they were outthought and outfought.
All the positives that City can take from their play with ten men must be matched by United being self-critical of their own performance. However, Michael Carrick used his post-match press conference to question the drawing of the offside line for Erling Haaland's goal and to say that his team had 'a fair bit of the initiative' before the refereeing decision changed everything.
Carrick is allowed to say what he likes in interviews, but if that is how he really thinks then United are deluded if they think they can best this City team over the course of the season. Pep Guardiola leaving gave everyone hope that the Blues would no longer be the force they were, yet Enzo Maresca's side played with a significant disadvantage for most of Sunday's game and had more than earned their draw even before the controversial winner.
Having already seen Liverpool and Chelsea drop more points at the weekend before their game kicked off, City left Old Trafford with the bonus of knowing both that they had done themselves proud against United and that their neighbours will stay below them for as long as they don't address the glaring issues in their side that caused them to be so poor against City's ten men.
The match gave City fans a day to savour, and the United response afterwards sets the Blues up for more joy this season.