Not having Robin van Persie isn’t an excuse for how Manchester United looked during the first 60 minutes of the Manchester Derby, finding themselves foru goals behind Manchester City, enjoying a huge game from Yaya Toure in the midfield and Sergio Aguero in the attack, with the Argentine scoring twice, helped by Toure and Samir Nasri before Wayne Rooney pegged back for the visitors resulting in 4-1 finish.
David Moyes didn’t have Robin van Persie to start with, but made a huge mistake by thinking Danny Welbeck can play the exact same role, with Wayne Rooney playing behind him. His wingers didn’t work, as Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young contributed nothing to the match, while Valencia, usually very good defensively at least, missed Aleksandar Kolarov which allowed the Serb to deliver the cross that gave Manchester City the lead.
Manchester City continued dominating the match, with United doing nothing but turning the ball over, as Wayne Rooney remained frustrated by his team’s inability to retain possession, looking undermanned in the midfield in almost every moment of the match. The half ended in a 2-0 lead for City, getting their second goal, with Yaya Toure finishing a corner kick just before half time.
The second half should have been different, but Moyes failed to react, believing it was only about calming his players down. However, the way Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero helped the midfield left Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini chasing too many players for them to handle, while Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic couldn’t handle Aguero’s movement from behind them, moving into the space in-front of him with ease.
Aguero was the one who finished the counter attack in the 47th minute, and three minutes later in an almost identical play, Samir Nasri ws the finisher, making everyone remember the way United ended up losing two years ago, only in a different venue.
David Moyes finally realized that not having enough men in the midfield is his big problem, not Robin van Persie not playing. He sent Tom Cleverley onto the pitch, and suddenly gained control while City decided they’ll simply hang on to their lead instead of work too hard to get a historic win. United pressure resulted in Wayne Rooney scoring a goal that will console no one.
United are 8th with only 7 points from the first five matches, with David Moyes making huge mistakes early on that it seems he’ll be able to learn from, although he hasn’t made himself an easy job for the rest of the way. Manchester City jump to third, now two points behind league leaders Arsenal & Tottenham.