The Manchester United vs Manchester City game turned out to be all it promised and more.The Manchester Derby was the most frantic you could imagine with so many talking points.From Rooney Guardiola engaging in a fracas that threatened to boil over to the Old Trafford outcry for a wild challeng on Wayne Rooney by the City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.
Jose Mourinho later insisted Manchester United should have been awarded two penalties in their 2-1 defeat by Manchester City on Saturday.
City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo's rash challenge on Wayne Rooney inside the box went unpunished in the second half, and moments later Antonio Valencia's cross struck the elbow
of Nicolas Otamendi in the area.
That also went unpunished, and left the Manchester United manager reeling as he spoke with Sky Sports after the defeat at Old Trafford.
I am very disappointed with two decisions from Mark [Clattenburg], because it's a penalty and a red card for Bravo," Mourinho said.
"If you tell me that that's not a penalty and a red card, I'll tell you that for sure outside the box it is a free-kick and a red card. Inside the box it has to be the same, but obviously even the best referees make mistakes, and he made a big one.
"The second one is also a penalty, Otamendi is a penalty, you can tell me he has no intention, I think he has intention.
"The arm behind the body, he knows that the cross is not going in his face, it's going in his back, and he drops the elbow back, so two penalties."
The Rooney and Guardiola clash was something commonly seen though.With United trailing 1-0 midway through the first half, Rooney attempted to pick up the pace and won a throw for his side following a committed challenge near the halfway line.Guardiola, in his technical area, collected the ball and then looked prepared to give it to a United player.
But the City boss then refused to hand the ball over to Rooney and put it behind his back to stop the United forward from taking a quick throw-in, much to the annoyance of the home support.
Rooney attempted to retrieve the ball by force, appearing to grapple and push Guardiola, before the Spaniard eventually relinquished possession of it.
Both protested their innocence to referee Mark Clattenburg, who was keen to keep the peace in the Man United vs Man City game, before shaking hands with one another.
But it was a bad day for Mourinho.The United manager looked on helplessly as City took a 2-0 lead at Old Trafford through Kevin De Bruyne and Kelechi Iheanacho, before Zlatan Ibrahimovic halved the deficit before the break.
He sprung up a surprise before kick-off, handing Jesse Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan their first Premier League starts of the season, before taking them both off at half-time.
The Portuguese boss admitted he had made a mistake with his selection after the game, and could only blame himself.
He said: "Honestly, I had two or three players in the first half, that if the game is now and I know what is going to happen, obviously I don't play them. But this is football, and sometimes players disappoint managers, and sometimes players give us great surprises.
"I thought because of the characteristics of the game that we could hurt them with some individuals with some qualities, they didn't give me what I want. It's their fault? It's my fault? It's my fault, because I'm the manager and it's always my fault because it's my choice.
"I think in the first half they were much better than us. We started the game bad, with some players really below the normal level, in terms of concentration, mental availability to play a game of this speed.
"You need to be sharp, the way you think and play, we had a few players below the level, and the team paid for it."
"We scored a goal late in the first half, and we could have immediately scored another, but I think it was outside the context of the game in the first half."
Despite the defeat, Mourinho could still find the positives in an improved second-half display from his side.
"The positives are the spirit of the group, the mentality to play in the second half, taking enormous risks against a team who was defending and waiting for a chance to counter attack, and obviously we are very disappointed with the result," Mourinho said.
Everybody knows Gary Neville is a Manchester United nut.The ex Manchester United and England full back is now one of the most respected Tv pundits in the country.Analysing the Manchester derby afterwards,Gary said it was far from what he expected.
He remarked that because of the emphasis and huge pressure on the game,he thought both managers will be cautious and maybe even settle for a draw.But it was nothing like that.
Here is what Gary expressed in his Skysports podcast..
"The build-up to the game was probably the biggest I've ever seen to what would be, in my eyes, a normal league game - obviously there have been title deciders between these two sides in previous years at the end of the season.
"This is a game four or five games into the season, and the build-up was huge. Subconsciously, we wondered whether the managers would think: 'Let's get out of here without damage.'
"Many predicted a draw, but it was absolutely nothing like I expected, it was the game you would have dreamt of in terms of end-to-end, punch-for-punch, both managers having to make substitutes and having to retreat. It really has been a wonderful occasion."
City, who were without talisman Sergio Aguero, were impressive in the opening stages, settling quicker on the ball at Old Trafford.
Although Claudio Bravo's mistake allowed United back into the game just before half-time, Neville described City's first-half domination as "special", and admits they dismantled his former side early on.
"Man City for 40 minutes were special, fantastic. I think Man City dismantled Man Utd. The word I used in commentary was authority.
"When you're a really top team, able to go to your biggest rivals with the biggest build-up, and just completely dominate, that's when you see the makings of a really good side.
"Pep Guardiola came here with his team and answered a lot of questions. Not just they can dominate like he has done previously in other clubs, but also in the second half to withstand pressure and long balls."
Last season, for the first time since the Premier League started in 1992, both Manchester clubs finished outside of the top three.
Although Neville says the result on Saturday is too early to use as evidence of where the title may be heading come May, he insists the Manchester clubs will be inside the top three this season.
"They will this season [be inside the top three], they absolutely will this season. With my Manchester head on, without my red head on, I'm thinking that was a pretty fantastic game to watch for the rest of the country and rest of the world.
"We talked before the game about how many people would be watching this. You wouldn't have been able to keep your eyes off it. There's no way your leaving 10 minutes early from this.
"In terms of the season it's very early days, it's so early. For Pep Guardiola and City it's a big day, to come and win here against a Jose Mourinho team is tough. He doesn't lose many games at home, and it's a big, big moment.
"Jose Mourinho will be dented tonight, damaged slightly; he's a man of great pride, but they'll respond, it's still early days, and it doesn't tell us about the league title and where it's going.
"Ultimately it means City have bragging rights this week, and that I won't appear in Manchester as much as I would have done if United had won!"
So now that one of the most famous matches in the world is over,what are the talking points or the Manchester United vs Manchester City highlights?We look at some here...
After a frenzied Manchester derby, we run through four of the top talking points as Manchester City came away with the points.
In the first derby of the season, City won 2-1 at Old Trafford thanks to first-half goals from man-of-the-match Kevin De Bruyne and striker Kelechi Iheanacho.
It means Pep Guardiola's City continue their 100 per cent start to the campaign, while Jose Mourinho was left reeling after a questionable team selection.
Manchester City dominates the first half totally.
Manchester City delivered what Gary Neville described as one of the best first-half performances he had ever seen in the first 40 minutes at Old Trafford. Guardiola's men were utterly dominant, pinning United back and repeatedly targeting their right flank, where Antonio Valencia and Eric Bailly couldn't cope with a blur of blue shirts.
Some of City's combination play was brilliantly intricate, but De Bruyne's opener came from a route one long pass by Aleksandar Kolarov. The Belgian then turned provider for the second when his low, diagonal shot bounced back off the post for Iheanacho to tap home.
City enjoyed 66 per cent of the possession in that first half, but the key to their dominance was their approach without the ball. City's forward players gave United no time to settle with their feverish pressing, and it was no coincidence that United's passing accuracy in their own half dropped from a season average of 93 per cent to 80 per cent before the break.
Keeper Claudio Bravo lucky to stay on the pitch.
No Manchester City player will been more relieved by the sound of the final whistle than new signing Claudio Bravo. Guardiola regards the ball-playing Chilean goalkeeper as a perfect fit for his philosophy, but he was badly at fault for Ibrahimovic's goal as he spilled an innocuous cross from Wayne Rooney.
"He flaps at his first real moment of pressure in this league," said Neville in the Sky Sports commentary box. "He's let Manchester United back into this game. He didn't need to come for it. I wonder if Joe Hart's smiling in Turin."
Fortunately for Bravo, City held on to their slender advantage, but the former Barcelona man had plenty of other nervous moments, gifting the ball to Jesse Lingard shortly before half-time and making a desperate challenge on Rooney after a heavy touch in the second half. The early evidence suggests he may need time to adapt in the Premier League
Kevin De Bruyne to be a world star.
De Bruyne still showed glimpses of class in his injury-hit 2015/16 season, and on Saturday at Old Trafford, the Belgian was the best player on the pitch by some distance. His position, placing himself in the pocket between the Manchester United central midfielders and centre-halves in the No 10 role, caused havoc.
He drifted in between both areas, picking up the ball in space and releasing it before the United defence had a chance to regain shape, and in a team that loves the ball and is likely to come up against a few parked buses, De Bruyne's quick-thinking is invaluable.
"I think he's got everything," said Graeme Souness after the game. "Two great feet, he's quick, he's got a football brain, which is one of the most important things you can have."
If they can keep him fit, the 25-year-old could be the key to success for Guardiola.
Mourinho is the humble one.
It is hardly seen for Jose Mourinho the self labelled special one to admit he was wrong in anything he does.But that seems to be the new matured Jose.It was refreshing to hear him say it was his fault in making the wrong selections that ultimately led to the defeat of his team.
It was also refreshing to see the two dreaded enemies,Mourinho and Guardiola hug each other after the game.You can be great rivals and still have absolute respect for each other.
As a Manchester United fan myself,i was very disappointed with the result cos i just did not see us losing that game beforehand.I expected a draw at the very least,but hey,we beat them at home last season too.I guess you win some and lose some.And i believe we will get ours back at the Etihad later on in the season.
If we are having this much fun so early into the season,imagine what the whole season will unleash on us?I just can't wait folks for the next Man u vs Man City game!
Source-Sky Sports.
Source-Sky Sports.