Review & Ratings: Rashford and Martial sink City at the Etihad; Wan-Bissaka, McTominay, Fred and Lingard dug deep in hard-fought victory

Manchester United beat Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad in the Premier League on Saturday evening. Marcus Rashford opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute after being fouled inside the box with the penalty awarded by VAR. Anthony Martial doubled United’s lead six minutes later, shocking the home side. United have ended a great week and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be proud.

It was a great start for United, who seemed to throw everything they had at City. Marcus Rashford won a penalty in the 23rd minute of the match after Bernardo Silva fouled him in the box. The referee did not award the penalty, with City on the attack but after a break in the game, VAR gave the penalty with the United forward finding the back of the net easily. He could have scored twice in quick succession after the penalty.

Six minutes later, United were 2-0 up after Anthony Martial found the back of the net. United were running riot at the Etihad. United’s attacking players were too much for City’s defence, who looked like they needed yet more investment. Daniel James got the assist as the Frenchman beat Ederson at the near post, putting United 2-0 up, unlucky that they had not scored more. City will be hurting, which makes it feel so much better.

City got themselves back into the game in the 85th minute of the match after Nicolas Otamendi scored a bullet header from Riyadh Mahrez’s cross into the box to get one back for City, who just did not do enough to get the better of United throughout the match. It was a pretty determined second half from City, who now have a massive chase on their hands to retain the Premier League title this season.

[player_ratings id=”96270″]

Goals: Nicolas Otamendi 85′; Marcus Rashford 23′ (pen), Anthony Martial 29′

Assists: Riyadh Mahrez 85′; Daniel James 29′

Manchester United: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw (Young 88′); McTominay, Fred; James, Lingard (Tuanzebe 89′), Rashford; Martial (Pereira 74′)

Substitutes Not Used: Romero; Williams; Mata; Greenwood

Bookings: Bernardo Silva 22′, Kevin De Bruyne 79′, Kyle Walker 90+4′; David De Gea 54′, Andreas Pereira 74′

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I support Manchester United, the greatest English football team to have ever existed. Bruno Fernandes is the latest in a long line of players with great ability to play for the club. I idolised Bryan Robson, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Eric Cantona growing up.