Behind two goals from both Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez, the Premier League champions proved rival Manchester United still has a lot of catching up to do.
Perhaps Manchester City was wobbling. Perhaps, given Manchester United had lost only one of its last seven games at the Etihad, this wouldn’t be a repeat of United’s limp defeat in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford. Perhaps this was an opportunity for United to strike a blow in the battle for fourth. Perhaps there was a danger that City would lose ground in the title race. Perhaps, perhaps. United probably was better here than in November, but it was still comprehensively outplayed in the 4–1 loss.
The thing Ole Gunnar Solskjær had always been good at was sitting his side deep against teams who sought to dominate possession, then striking on the break. His capacity to do that had been compromised by the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, the demand to play him meant United lacked the pace and fluidity to play in that way. With Ronaldo absent, Ralf Rangnick’s set up was very different, and in part conditioned by the loss of Ronaldo. This was a curious sort of 4-2-4 with Anthony Elanga and Jadon Sancho wide and Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes as a pair of unconventional center forwards.
And there were times when it worked, most notably when an interchange between the four led to Jadon Sancho, the one player who has clearly improved under Rangnick, calmly tucking a curler into the bottom corner to equalize after 22 minutes.
But you can talk about tactics all you like; it doesn’t matter if your defense just switches off to allow Kevin De Bruyne to score after five minutes. Jack Grealish fed Bernardo Silva and as he cut the ball back, a group of United defenders looked on in bewilderment as De Bruyne advanced into space in the center of the box to score.
And that really has been the story of Rangnick’s time at United. For all the discussion of his method and the pressing game he wants to impose, the problems under him have been just as much the result of a failure of nerve and will.
The score was level for only six minutes and Foden headed against the bar even in that spell. City is capable, of course, of ripping any side apart but, still, United was abject at the back. The goal that restored City's lead was dismal in any number of ways. Victor Lindelöf, charging out to meet Phil Foden, was made to look very silly as the ball was lifted over his head. David De Gea then made the first of a string of excellent saves but the rebound spun cruelly through the legs of Harry Maguire. An initial follow-up was blocked and, with United players strewn all over the six-yard box, De Bruyne slammed in his second.
United has developed a recent tendency of playing well in one half and poorly in the other; it turned out the first half, in which it could easily have been 4–1 down, was the good one. The second half was utterly one-sided, a reminder of the gulf between the sides in that first meeting of the season. City scored twice, both through Riyad Mahrez —the first a volley from a corner, the second a neat finish from İlkay Gündoğan’s through ball—but only De Gea’s brilliance and some of City’s characteristic wayward finishing kept the score down. This was 4–1 going on six or seven.
In part, of course, that is testament to City’s excellence. It lost to Tottenham two weeks ago, and didn’t convince against either Everton or Peterborough, but City has now won 22 of its last 25 games—and one of its two defeats was in a dead-rubber Champions League group game against RB Leipzig. It’s the sort of wobble that for most teams would represent an unprecedented run of form, but City now sits six points clear of Liverpool at the top of the table having played a game more.
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The gap between City and United is vast: 22 points and several years of development. United is now down to fifth, a point behind Arsenal having played three games more. But worse than that, its squad has a patched-up air, and there has been little if any improvement under Rangnick, a high-level director of football operating as a coach whose involvement and role next season remains uncertain.
There is chaos at the top, chaos in the squad and that translated into chaos in defense. And against City, chaos is only going to bring one outcome: very heavy defeat.
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