Hands up – who saw that coming?
Manchester United upset the odds in a huge way to beat rivals Man City, end Pep Guardiola’s dreams of a double-double, and made it difficult to sack Erik Ten Hag.
The Dutchman, whose future is the subject of intense speculation, pulled off a tactical masterstroke by beating Guardiola, with United defending for their lives, squeezing the life out of City’s midfield, and then hitting them brilliantly on the break.
United were two goals up by half time, and it was not until the 87th minute that City gave themselves a glimmer of hope when Jeremy Doku scored. But it was too little, too late from the Premier League champions.
They left themselves a mountain to climb after United went 2-0 up in the space of nine minutes. A horrible mix-up between Stefan Ortega and Josko Gvardiol allowed Alejandro Garnacho to tap the ball into an unguarded goal on the half-hour mark, and nine minutes later man-of-the-match Kobbie Mainoo finished off a flowing move he had started close to his own penalty area.
Erling Haaland appealed for two penalties, but referee Andrew Madley was having none of it, and soon Kevin De Bruyne was replaced without making much of an impression. Doku pulled one goal back in the dying moments, when his shot sneaked past Andre Onana at the near post, but it mattered not as the final whistle went ten minutes later.
The red half of Wembley celebrated long and loudly, while the blue half disappeared within minutes.
The result means United are in Europe, too, as they qualify for the Europa League in place of Chelsea, who are relegated to the Conference league and Newcastle United miss out completely.
