United were handed a huge advantage early on in the game, as Phil Foden was sent off after just 22 minutes for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes, but United failed to capitalise on their advantage, as the two sides entered the break level.
United started the second half on the front foot, having more possession and shots than City, but couldn't break the deadlock. On the hour mark, Haaland opened the scoring with a controversial goal. Despite looking offside in real time and on replay, the goal stood after a lengthy VAR check, with Patrick Dorgu's outstretched boot just playing the Norwegian onside.
The rules indicate that a player in an offside position can be penalised for making an obvious action which clearly impacts the ability of an opponent to play the ball, with Enzo Fernandez, who was in an offside position, going for a diving header which affected both Lisandro Martinez's and Senne Lammens' ability to play the ball.
Despite this, the goal ultimately stood, and United failed to create any clear-cut chances for the remainder of the game, except from a Bryan Mbeumo effort at the end of stoppage time, which was saved brilliantly by Gianluigi Donnarumma from close range.
It’s not often that you play against a team of such a high calibre as Man City with a man advantage for the better part of 75 minutes, so this result was a real missed opportunity for United after a mixed start to their 2026/27 Premier League campaign.
United twice struck the bar through a Marcus Rashford free-kick in the first half and a Kobbie Mainoo effort from outside the box, but Gianluigi Donnarumma was rarely tested in the City goal, as United managed to have just three strikes on target, two of which came from outside the box.
Mbeumo had United’s best chance of scoring the equaliser at the end of the game, but was denied point-blank by an excellent Donnarumma save.
Michael Carrick has a host of different goal-scoring avenues across the front line, with his attackers specialising in different attacking areas that make United’s forward play quite unpredictable.
After Foden got sent off, understandably, [Manchester United](https://roundtable.io/sports/soccer/premier-league/manchester-united) got more of the ball, but struggled to break down the Man City defence, leading to Carrick’s side taking several long-range efforts that failed to test Donnarumma.
Michael Carrick’s side failed to take advantage of their man advantage and at times looked like they were the side that was a man down against their bitter rivals. Even after going a goal down on the hour mark, United failed to ramp up their attacks and played in several sloppy crosses that were easily dealt with by the City defence.
There would always be space in the Man City defence after going a man down, but United failed to stay patient and try to tire out the City side by moving the ball around quickly and making the most of their man advantage as the game went on.
It's always hard to find positives out of a bitter defeat to rivals, but you can't deny that Manchester United's midfield pivot worked on the day.
While Carlos Baleba will likely feature regularly alongside Kobbie Mainoo once the Cameroonian returns from injury, it’s evident that a pivot of Mainoo and Youri Tielemans is capable of causing issues for any team.
With the Belgian’s excellent passing range, it was thought that the pivot would work well against teams where United were expected to dominate possession, but could struggle against sides who like to play on the front foot, much like City.
While the red card certainly helped with Man Utd’s success in the middle of the park, even before Foden was sent off, United’s midfield pairing of Tielemans and Mainoo was having success over the midfield of Enzo Fernandez and Elliot Anderson, so it was a bit strange to see Tielemans be substituted by Carrick.
Having played the full 90 minutes against Sabah last Thursday night in the Champions League, it was perhaps a surprise to see Matheus Cunha lining up as United’s starting number nine against City, and it was perhaps even more shocking to see the Brazilian also play all 90 minutes of the derby despite struggling.
Despite spending most of his career as a striker, United fans saw last season how effective he was drifting centrally from the left, scoring 10 goals and assisting twice in the league.
With Amad Diallo injured and Benjamin Šeško still getting back to full fitness after missing pre-season through injury, Carrick has almost been forced to deploy the Brazilian as a striker, with the 27-year-old always looking to drop slightly deeper and contribute to the build-up of play, rather than be an out-and-out number nine who is on hand to finish said chances.
On his 250th appearance for Manchester United, Diogo Dalot had his hands full all game as he struggled to contain the danger of Antoine Semenyo on the left wing.
With Luke Shaw ruled out of the game through injury, Patrick Dorgu was given the nod by Carrick to start the game at left-back, and handled Phil Foden well before the City midfielder was sent off for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes.
Going forward, Shaw’s crossing ability was sorely missed, as both Dalot’s and Dorgu’s balls into the box failed to create any problems for the City backline, and the pair struggled on the whole, making United’s decision to not sign a full-back last summer all the more questionable, as the club seemingly decided to wait until next summer to address the defence, rather than fill a gap that already looks like a serious problem going forward this season.
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