Ten-man City snatched victory at Old Trafford through a contentious Erling Haaland strike, leaving the frustrated Red Devils to regret wasted opportunities and costly final-third indecision.
Man Utd 0-1 Man City Review
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Manchester United suffered their second defeat of the 2026/27 Premier League season against Manchester City at Old Trafford, with a controversial Erling Haaland goal securing a 1-0 victory for the visitors. United were handed a major advantage after just 22 minutes when Phil Foden was sent off for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes, but they failed to capitalise, with the sides level at half-time.
United started the second half on the front foot, enjoying more possession and registering more shots than City, but struggled to break the deadlock. On the hour mark, Haaland opened the scoring in controversial circumstances, appearing to be offside both in real time and on replay. However, after a lengthy VAR review, the goal stood, with Patrick Dorgu's outstretched boot ultimately playing the Norwegian onside.
Further controversy surrounded the decision, with Enzo Fernandez in an offside position when he attempted a diving header, which appeared to affect both Lisandro Martinez's and Senne Lammens' ability to play the ball. The rules state that an offside player can be penalised if they make an obvious action which clearly impacts an opponent's ability to play the ball, but VAR ultimately deemed the goal valid.
United struggled to create any clear-cut chances after falling behind, with their best opportunity coming deep into stoppage time. Bryan Mbeumo's close-range effort looked destined for the net, but Gianluigi Donnarumma produced a brilliant save to preserve City's lead and secure all three points for the visitors.
Youri Tielemans on Man Utd's poor performance
Roundtable previously exclusively reported that Man Utd have targeted next month's fixture against Leeds as the date when Carlos Baleba will be making his long-awaited debut, but Michael Carrick has already seemingly found a reliable midfield pivot, with the pairing of Kobbie Mainoo and Youri Tielemans starting every game so far this season, except for the opening day.
While it's hard to take positives from such a brutal defeat as the one against City, United's midfield was performing well against their rivals, even before Phil Foden was sent off.
Ultimately however, the game was decided by one controversial Haaland goal, and United were left rueing their missed opportunities, something which Tielemans echoed speaking after the game.
He said: "We shouldn’t have conceded the goal. I don’t think we created enough chances today to win the game.
"We were sloppy on the ball and lost too many balls and didn’t make the right decisions in the final third.
"Other than the goal they scored, I don’t think they had many chances. It is what it is and we lost the game."
A controversial Erling Haaland goal gave 10-man Manchester City the win at Old Trafford, as Michael Carrick’s Manchester United failed to capitalise on a crucial man advantage.roundtable.ioMan Utd 0-1 Man City Player Ratings As VAR Steals The Show (Premier League)
A controversial Erling Haaland goal gave 10-man Manchester City the win at Old Trafford, as Michael Carrick’s Manchester United failed to capitalise on a crucial man advantage.
Tielemans' substitution was a bad decision
In search of a goal after conceding on the hour mark, Youri Tielemans was substituted in favour of Benjamin Šeško, as Michael Carrick brought on more firepower upfront in search of an equalising goal.
Tielemans has immense passing quality, so it's strange that the Belgian midfielder was taken off when a like-for-like substitution of Šeško for Cunha was available.
The 29-year-old covered more distance (6.2km) and made more line-breaking passes (7) than any other Man Utd player in the first half, as he and Mainoo came out on top in the midfield battle. (Stats via Statman Dave)
There was a real shift in the way United played once Tielemans was taken off by Carrick, as Bruno Fernandes dropped into the midfield pivot and Cunha took up Fernandes' position in the ten. Both the captain and the Brazilian struggled throughout the game, making it even stranger that Carrick brought off Tielemans, who looked on form.