Manchester United produced a stunning performance to shock Premier League title-chasers Manchester City 2-0 at Old Trafford in Michael Carrick’s first game since taking over as interim head coach.
Carrick, appointed Tuesday, watched as his team dominated Pep Guardiola’s side. United won thanks to goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu, although they had another three ruled out for offside.
City, meanwhile, managed only one shot on target as their title hopes suffered another damaging blow. It’s now no league win in four games for City, giving Arsenal the opportunity to further stretch their lead at the top.
The result will boost United’s hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, with a trip to face Arsenal at the Emirates to come next weekend.
For Carrick, it was the perfect start and he left the pitch being serenaded by the fans in the Stretford End. Two weeks of chaos following Ruben Amorim’s sacking and Darren Fletcher’s short spell in charge ended on a high note. — Rob Dawson
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City’s midfield fails them, leaving title bid in tatters
Manchester City’s title bid is as good as over. If Arsenal beat Nottingham Forest later Saturday, the Gunners will be nine points clear at the top of the table and that will be too big a gap for City to bridge. Guardiola’s side were never convincing at Old Trafford and the home team dominated, largely because they won the midfield battle with Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo dominating the central third of the pitch. It has been well over a decade since that last happened.
Ever since Roberto Mancini’s team was driven by the powerhouse Yaya Touré in the early years of City’s rise to dominance, they have been top dogs in midfield, not just in Manchester derbies but in the Premier League. Touré, Fernandinho, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gündogan and Rodri have given City their strength in midfield.
But they are now a fading force, with only Rodri still around and the Spain midfielder is yet to fully recover from his cruciate ligament injury. In this game, Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden didn’t have the energy to compete with United and City couldn’t get into the game. It’s the same story in the title race. City just don’t dominate games as they used to do, and this defeat offered damning proof of that. — Mark Ogden
A perfect start for Carrick
Carrick couldn’t have asked for much more from his first game in charge.
The former United midfielder was asking the fans for more noise from the moment he stepped out of the tunnel before kickoff and he got the atmosphere he was after. The supporters played their part, and they were repaid by the players who put in perhaps their best performance since the 2024 FA Cup final under Erik ten Hag against the same opposition.
Carrick and his new staff have only had three days to work with the players, but the change was obvious. Too often in games against City, the red shirts have got nowhere near the ones wearing blue. This was different.
United put City’s young back four under immediate pressure and twice in the early stages, Max Alleyne misplaced passes into touch. It set the tone for the whole afternoon. United were aggressive and Luke Shaw and Mainoo steamed into challenges on Rodri as they tried to rush City’s normally calm midfield anchor.
The only thing missing from the first-half display was a goal — United twice had the ball in the back of the net but were denied by the offside flag — and that was rectified after the break. It finished 2-0, but on another day it could quite easily have been four or five. — Dawson
Maguire and Martínez vindicate return to back four
Manchester United’s back three nightmare is truly over, and defensive rocks Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martínez showed just why four at the back is best.
Amorim was so defiantly rigid with his 3-4-3 formation that United would only use a back four once during his 14 months in charge. But United never looked comfortable in that system, and games would usually be marked by the coach substituting defenders to further confuse his players.
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Against City, Carrick deployed a traditional back four with center backs Maguire and Martínez at the heart of the defense. Both players were outstanding — so good in fact that Pep Guardiola withdrew the anonymous Erling Haaland with 10 minutes still to play. Perhaps the impact of Carrick’s coaches, Steve Holland and Jonathan Woodgate, is already being felt, but Maguire and Martínez showed their experience to make the back four work against City.
Maguire is out of contract at the end of the season, but he is showing that he deserves a new deal. — Ogden
Haaland’s struggles continue
The atmosphere inside Old Trafford was wild and rabid from the first minute, and yet one of the biggest cheers came when Haaland was substituted 10 minutes before the end.
It was another difficult day for the Norway international, who was tipped to get the better of Lisandro Martínez by former United players Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt before the game. In the end, there was no doubt about who won the battle.
It’s now one goal in seven games for Haaland. He has found the net only once in 2026, and that was a penalty in the 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.
There’s been a question all season about whether City have enough goals in the team to cope when Haaland isn’t firing. January signing Antoine Semenyo has been brought in to shoulder some of the responsibility, but he was quiet here. Phil Foden is another useful source of goals, but he went off at halftime.
Guardiola has speculated recently that Haaland, who has played a lot of games this season, is running low on energy. It certainly looked like that against United. — Dawson
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ESPN FC’s Janusz Michallik reacts to Manchester United’s stunning 2-0 victory over Manchester City in the Premier League.
Mainoo makes his point regaining his place
Mainoo became the poster boy for the Amorim era for all the wrong reasons after being almost completely overlooked by the former head coach.
The England midfielder had dropped so far out of the picture in the final days of Amorim’s reign that his half-brother wore a “Free Kobbie Mainoo” T-shirt at a game to highlight the lack of opportunities being given to the 20-year-old.
Mainoo didn’t start a single league game under Amorim this season, but he started Michael Carrick’s first game in charge and played the full 90 minutes. He was excellent alongside Casemiro, bringing quality, flair and youthful energy to the midfield.
Mainoo has his faults — he can be careless in possession and lacks pace — but United are a much better team with him in it. — Ogden
Dalot lucky with early challenge
Guardiola raged against the referees at Newcastle United on Tuesday and he will feel hard done by again. Diogo Dalot’s challenge on Jérémy Doku in the 10th minute was high and reckless, catching the Belgium winger above the knee.
Referee Anthony Taylor dealt with it at the time, showing Dalot a yellow card. City’s analysts sitting in the media tribune — who were able to see replays — were furious that Taylor wasn’t sent to the monitor by VAR Craig Pawson.
Dalot would have had little to complain about had he been dismissed. He was lucky to stay on.
The Premier League match center later clarified that the incident was checked and cleared by Pawson, who decided the contact was “glancing and not with excessive force.”
Coming so early, a red card would have changed the game. But with 11 men, United were the better team throughout and deserved to win. It was a big decision and Dalot got the benefit of the doubt. It laid the foundation for United to edge almost every key moment on a good day for Carrick and the home side. — Dawson
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