Man Utd 2 Man City 0: How did Carrick make a perfect start? What went so wrong for Guardiola?
A new era at Manchester United has started with a bang.
Michael Carrick’s spell as head coach may only be until the end of the season but he made an immediate impression at Old Trafford, steering his side to a deserved 2-0 victory over Manchester City.
It is a result with significant implications in the Premier League title race, with City fluffing the chance to put pressure on Arsenal ahead of the league leaders’ trip to Nottingham Forest later today, and boosted United’s hopes of Champions League qualification.
We dissect the major talking points.
How good were United?
Michael Carrick only began to work with Manchester United’s squad on Wednesday, yet his team went about this game with a structure, style and purpose rarely seen during a difficult 2025.
Derbies can have a clarifying effect on this team. There was none of the uncertainty and frustrations that can creep into games where United are expected to dominate possession and break down a stubborn backline. The Old Trafford crowd were swept along with the impressive defensive work rate from the home side. When United lost the ball, they would flood back in to protect the back four. Casemiro, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and others did not hesitate to get down into the dirt to make slide tackles and block City’s shooting.
Michael Carrick celebrates his first win (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
And when it was time to attack, United did so with gusto. In 2020, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spoke of how United attackers need to be willing to “break their nose” in order to score goals. In tense matches between the biggest sides, the work you do without the ball can be just as important as your touches with it. This is how United’s second goal came out, with Patrick Dorgu busting a gut to outpace Rico Lewis in the penalty box before providing the final touch on Matheus Cunha’s cross.
This was a United performance earned in sweat, with multiple players deciding to be brave and putting a foot forward, when in previous weeks they might have taken a step back.
Carl Anka
What went wrong for City?
City did not look themselves throughout, thanks in large part to the pressure United put them under and the atmosphere generated inside Old Trafford.
Pep Guardiola’s men tried all they could to take the sting out of things by getting Bernardo Silva and Rodri on the ball, and squeezing Rico Lewis inside to help them out, but this was not a game they could keep a lid on.
In the first half, Rodri looked off the boil, presenting United with their best chance of the game until that point by surrendering possession with an uncharacteristic sloppy pass — it even looked like he did not appreciate the space around him, which you would not expect, although he did improve after half-time.
The other issue City had throughout was that even in the spells when they could make United sit back, the visitors’ use of the ball around the area was very poor and there looked like little hope of nicking a goal against the run of play.
Sam Lee
How significant was Haaland’s substitution?
If Erling Haaland is ever taken off, the talking point is usually whether the decision has robbed him of the chance to get a hat-trick, because you can be sure that if he is being given some rest, then City are confident the game has been put to bed.
This was the exact opposite: with Guardiola bringing on Rayan Ait-Nouri, Divine Mukasa and Tijjani Reijnders for Jeremy Doku, Bernardo Silva and Haaland in the 80th minute, it was essentially the waving of a white flag, even if Haaland did only manage 15 touches all game.
Pep Guardiola substitutes Erling Haaland (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Guardiola, like many coaches, is hyper-aware of the signals that substitutions can send to the players on the pitch — a fine example is how he is reluctant to bring on attacking options in tight games where he is quite happy with the ‘safe’ nature of the game, even if City are hardly threatening.
That is something that can be hard for outsiders to grasp but the message on Saturday lunchtime was clear: this game cannot be rescued.
Sam Lee
How did United set up and why did it cause City problems?
Modern Manchester derbies have typically followed a particular rhythm. Pep Guardiola will set his team out to slowly suffocate United with a million passes, while United’s head coaches (five permanent ones) look to contain and counterattack.
Michael Carrick has 17 games to secure Champions League qualification and got United settling into old routines in his first 45 minutes. He set up with a 4-2-3-1 with Bryan Mbeumo at the tip of the spear. Out of possession, it became a 4-4-2 involving Bruno Fernandes signalling when he believed it best to press high or to drop off. An attacking approach saw Diogo Dalot and Amad Diallo frequently looked to run in behind on the right-hand side, while Lisandro Martinez looked to hit long passes into the space.
United finished the first half with 28 per cent possession. Carrick didn’t want his men to pass for the sake of passing, but to try and penetrate an uncertain City backline whenever possible.
And it worked: compact and organised when they had to be in defence, fast and aggressive going forward. The only thing that was missing was the opening goal. Harry Maguire came close in the first five minutes, his header from a corner crashing off the woodwork.
Amad Diallo saw a goal ruled out for a reasonably clear offside…
… before Fernandes was denied by a much closer call, having thought he had timed his run perfectly.
United built on their fine first-half display in the second period, which is when their goals finally came, but the foundations were laid in that first 45 minutes.
One game is too soon to say whether Carrick has alleviated United’s biggest woes. But this was a superb start.
Carl Anka
Was Dalot lucky to avoid a red card?
Referee Anthony Taylor was presented with a nightmare scenario 11 minutes in. Manchester United right-back Diogo Dalot arrived late in an attempt to tackle Jeremy Doku, who had shifted the ball away with some quick footwork.
Diogo Dalot’s high tackle on Jeremy Doku only received a booking (Sky Sports)
He caught the diminutive Belgian “high, (brushing his studs) across the kneecap” according to former Premier League referee Mike Dean on Sky Sports. Dean caveated that “(at) normal speed, you can’t tell. The replays aren’t good” and believed he was lucky to avoid a red card.
Dalot received a yellow, which VAR concurred with, meaning United kept their 11 on the pitch. Luke Shaw, United’s other full-back, was booked six minutes later, putting them in a precarious position against one-v-one specialists Doku and Antoine Semenyo.
This is partly why United dropped into a 5-4-1 at times, with right winger Amad coming down to act as a wing-back and defend Doku, meaning Dalot did not have to risk a second yellow card.
Liam Tharme
Has Bruno’s shift sparked United?
And to think that Ruben Amorim was playing Bruno Fernandes as a No 6.
Fine, United’s former head coach kept trying to fit summer signings Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo into that damned 3-4-3 system, but whoever leads this squad should always be building their team around Fernandes.
This game suited the Portugal international, with United playing direct on the break, meaning he could showcase that expansive passing range to pace: Mbeumo, Amad, Dorgu.
The technical brilliance in settled situations was there too: that inswinging corner just minutes in, where Harry Maguire headed against the bar, the back-post cross from the halfspace where Mbeumo forced a strong save from Gianluigi Donnarumma.
When he set up Mbeumo to open the scoring on the break — weighting the pass perfectly on a four-v-two breakaway so that Mbeumo could finish on his dominant left foot — it was a deserved United goal and Fernandes assist.
He himself had broken the offside trap in the first half with a run in behind, and put the ball in the net, only for the flag to go up.
Fernandes has assisted in three straight games since Amorim left. He breaks lines and creates chances (three big chances today). That’s why you play him No 10.
Liam Tharme
What next for United?
Sunday, January 25: Arsenal (Away), Premier League, 4.30pm UK, 11.30am ET
What next for City?
Tuesday, January 20: Bodo/Glimt (Away), Champions League, 8pm UK, 3pm ET
