Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes the bond between Manchester United players and fans is returning after completing a first English Premier League derby double over Manchester City in 10 years with a 2-0 victory at Old Trafford.
Anthony Martial and Scott McTominay on Sunday took advantage of errors by City goalkeeper Ederson to keep United hot on the heels of Chelsea for a top-four finish, just three points behind the Blues, who earlier thrashed Everton 4-0 at Stamford Bridge.
United have been living in City’s shadow, but have beaten their local rivals three times this season and are now unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions.
Photo: Reuters
“The desire, attitude, commitment, the connection between fans and players,” Solskjaer said about what had pleased him most. “What a day they’ve had today. It’s a derby. The fans love it, the players love it. You can say it’s only three points, but to beat a team like Manchester City with the problems we’ve had is fantastic.”
United move up to fifth in the table, which could be good enough to qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season if City’s appeal against a two-year ban is not successful at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and on this display, City seem to already be concentrating on completing a treble of cup competitions this season.
A seventh league defeat of the campaign for Pep Guardiola’s men means Liverpool are now just two wins away from claiming a first league title in 30 years.
Guardiola said that his side had played well, but midfielder Bernardo Silva described the performance and result as unacceptable.
“Not a good performance and not acceptable from us. A team like ours cannot lose this many games in the Premier League as we have lost this season,” Silva said. “The reality is that the pressure is not on the Premier League. We know our position is not changing a lot because we won’t get to the title. I think we will be second to qualify for the Champions League, but it’s a derby. It’s important for our fans and it’s not acceptable to lose 2-0.”
City dominated possession early on, but badly missed the presence of the injured Kevin de Bruyne.
The visitors’ defensive deficiencies that have allowed Liverpool to streak 25 points clear were also obvious as Daniel James and Martial went close on the counterattack.
However, it was an uncharacteristic error by Ederson that gifted United the lead.
Bruno Fernandes was the creator with a scooped free-kick to pick out Martial and his shot squeezed under Ederson’s right hand at the near post.
Fred was then controversially booked for diving when he appeared to have been taken down inside the penalty area by Nicolas Otamendi.
United fans were frustrated the video assistant referee did not intervene on that occasion and when it did early in the second half, City were nearly the beneficiaries.
Sergio Aguero was flagged offside long before he fired past David de Gea, but the Argentine was only fractionally off when the move was reviewed.
Moments later, Ederson escaped gifting another goal as a routine back-pass rolled under his foot and he needed to produce a last-ditch tackle on Martial to deny United breathing space.
However, where Manchester United might have buckled earlier in the season, Solskjaer’s men held firm, as De Gea denied Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus.
McTominay then sealed the three points deep in stoppage-time when he strode onto a wayward throw by Ederson to steer the ball into an unguarded net.
“It’s part of the game. He will recover and is an exceptional goalkeeper,” Guardiola said of an error-strewn afternoon for Ederson.
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