Accustomed to success, Guardiola and his Manchester City live immersed in a drift of bad results and worse feelings that has no end. The Cityzens were looking for relief in the Premier in the Manchester derby, but they encountered a cruel defeat. United, that giant that has been in crisis for years and in the shadow of its neighbor, won an agonizing victory with a comeback that began with a calamitous error by Nunes, including a penalty, and ended with Diallo’s final goal in the 90th minute .
Head down and hot, now without a jacket, Guardiola left the Etihad worried. With a confused expression and his gaze towards the sky, the Catalan was looking for answers after suffering his team’s eighth defeat in the last 11 games and with only one win. The run-up to the match acted as a symptom of the thin air at City. A huge banner with Guardiola’s name and the motto in Catalan ‘more than a coach’, in the style of Barça’s ‘more than a club’, presided over one of the sides of the stadium before the duel. Until recently it was unthinkable that the coach would need a great deal of support. But the skyblue have their worst score since 2010 and were facing Rúben Amorim, a newcomer to the United bench, who just a month ago scored four goals against them when he was still coach of Sporting de Portugal (4-1). The Portuguese, who ruled out Rashford and Garnacho due to lack of commitment, came out reinforced and elevated the Red Devils who were also coming into the duel at a low time, after two defeats in the Premier.
The first half was a mirror of the state of both teams. Of doubts and worry. Of yawns in the stands. The skyblues kneaded the ball with conformity. Some red devils were waiting castled behind without any more ambition, waiting for a counterattack. Haland and Bernardo Silva did not touch the ball. De Bruyne and Gündogan settled into the horizontal pass. And United lamented Mason Mount’s ten-minute injury. A shot from Foden, which went wide, was the closest thing to a chance in the initial stretch. The first shot on goal ended in a goal, the work of Gvardiol with a header after a bitten cross from De Bruyne.
After the restart, City declined and United grew. Without the spirit or strength to go for the second, the locals speculated on the result, but without defensive rigor and without control of the match the equation was unsolvable. The waves of the Red Devils followed one another and the noise in the stands increased. Diallo had a first chance with a header, saved by Ederson who returned to the starting lineup. Bruno Fernandes then missed a handball.
City suffered and everything went up in the air with a blunder in the 85th minute by Nunes, who gave the ball to Diallo and in his attempt to correct the situation he attacked the forward in the area. This time, Bruno Fernandes did not miss from eleven meters. The drama at the Etihad was completed with a long ball from Lisandro Martínez for Diallo who made exquisite control to get around Ederson and score the winning goal practically into an empty goal. Three points for a United that is moving away from the bottom zone. City, for its part, says goodbye in December to revalidating a Premier title that it has always fought for in the last seven years and its real objective is now to get into the next Champions League.
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