Manchester City continued their race against Liverpool by beating Manchester United

Manchester City maintained a minimal gap from the leading Liverpool in the English Championship, beating Manchester United at home in the 27th round – 3:1, despite conceding a goal very early.

In the plot of this match, for some time it was tempting to discern something even almost magical. It is clear what the standard forecast associated with it was. The question, strictly speaking, is not the outcome, because there is no doubt that Manchester City will prevail over its opponents, who are still not returning to the appearance of a real grandee, for whom at the end of the season it will be lucky to penetrate into the European Cup zone, and in how difficult the defeat would be for Manchester United. He might have had a chance to fight his neighbor if he had someone to rely on in the attack. But Rasmus Højlunn, who started scoring goals after the New Year, was inopportunely injured, and the sour Marcus Rashford had already shown how useless he was at the forefront in the previous round in the match his club lost with Fulham. That is, the scenario with a brutal flogging did not seem so fantastic.

And Manchester United took the lead less than ten minutes into the game. After a magnificent shot from three dozen meters into the top corner, it was Rashford. And he continued to hold on, forcing commentators from the BBC to be amazed at the density of their defense: “It turns out that they can do that too? Well, who would have thought?!”

True, side by side with these words were reminders that seemed quite relevant to experts about an experiment starting in the lower English divisions to test the new rule proposed for implementation. The goalkeeper will be allowed to hold the ball for at least eight seconds instead of the currently officially allowed six, but during this possession the referee will hold the ball up and count down, urging and controlling the player and not allowing him to relax. It is useless to argue: Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana, if the rule had already been in effect and he for some reason didn’t give a damn about it, by the middle of the first half he would have been sent off for constant delays of the game. But what can you do – and this slowness was part of the essence of the guests’ understandable strategy.

And also, of course, to keep a closer eye on Erling Haaland. Threats to the Manchester United goal, despite his diligence, still arose, but came from Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, and other players, who once fell almost one on one with Onana, but not from the Norwegian sniper. After half an hour of play, he had only half a dozen touches of the ball, all in situations where it was impossible to create an edge.

However, the only touch in a situation where the joke is nearby will apparently be etched in the memory of Manchester City fans for a long time. After Foden’s discount, Haaland met the ball on the goal line. In front of him was a gigantic and virtually completely empty gate. The forward managed to send the ball over the crossbar, and his team’s head coach Pep Guardiola, who just seemed ready to jump out to the sideline and dance with happiness, made a terrible grimace, and collapsed back onto the bench.

The ghost of an unexpected slap for the reigning champion flew and flew over the Etihad Stadium lawn, but eventually disappeared. It was Foden who made him evaporate, returning Guardiola’s smile, who this season, much more than before, looks like a player not just of the top, but of an exclusive, perhaps, level. He equalized the score with a simple maneuver from the flank to the center and a grand shot from approximately the same distance from which Rashford hit the target.

It was clear that Manchester United, which had lost its lead, had less courage and stamina. But he somehow endured, having completely given up trying to at least get closer to the opponents’ penalty area. It didn’t take long to endure it—about a quarter of an hour. Finally, both the defense and Onana, who missed the ball from Foden at hand, made a mistake. And in the end, the still unlucky Haaland ran away, finishing off Manchester United.

Having won, Manchester City remained one point behind Liverpool at the top of the table. Arsenal were ahead of the Manchester team in points before this round. He will play his match against Sheffield today.

Alexey Dospehov