How City won at Old Trafford
· Yahoo Sports
City’s brilliant, battling victory against Manchester United on Sunday meant we became the first visiting team to win at Old Trafford 10 times in the Premier League.
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We’ve made some incredible memories across the city in the last 34 years, with the 6-1 demolition in 2011 and Pep Guardiola’s first Manchester derby in 2016 amongst the favourites.
This one was only 1-0, but it was the manner of the performance that particularly pleased so many, including manager Enzo Maresca, who danced down the touchline towards the City fans as the final whistle blew.
It meant we extended our 100% start to the new Premier League campaign to four games, keeping pace with Arsenal at the top of the table.
But more importantly in the short term for the fans, it ensured local bragging rights until the reverse fixture in the spring.
We believed we could win even with 10 men – Enzo
City had to hassle and harry, spending more than three quarters of the match down to 10 men after Phil Foden’s red card midway through the first period.
In fact, we are only the second side ever to win at Old Trafford in the Premier League after having a man sent off.
Iliman Ndiaye was in the only other team to do so – Everton in November 2025 – and his second-half performance here felt crucial to our victory.
Introduced at the break, the summer signing outsprinted all but Antoine Semenyo and Enzo Fernández in a City shirt despite spending half the amount of time on the pitch.
The fact he and Semenyo – who covered 161 metres and 304 metres while sprinting – were so willing to support Erling Haaland helped drag us up the pitch even with the numerical disadvantage.
It’s not all about sprints of course, with Elliot Anderson putting in a stellar display in the centre of midfield.
His 11.6 kilometres run overall was comfortably more than anyone else on the pitch and he also had more touches than any other City player with 77.
We all shone at Old Trafford, says Anderson
We had to surrender some possession of course, which feels unusual for City fans, with United have 55% of the ball and completing 94 more passes than us.
However, Maresca made it clear that this may have helped City, with United preferring to attack on transition rather than dominate the ball.
Despite that, we defended brilliantly and restricted them to only three shots on target.
Marc Guéhi, Rúben Dias, Matheus Nunes and Joško Gvardiol were in the way of everything, with those four top for clearances while Anderson and Fernández intercepted more than anyone else.
And when they did get through, Gianluigi Donnarumma was equal to what was thrown at him.
He has prevented a total of 2.6 goals in just four games so far according to Opta’s Expected Goals on Target model.
With two clean sheets, it suggests the Italian has started the season in fine form.
It wasn’t all about working hard off the ball too, with City having to create chances too.
In fact, our xG of 1.1 was better than United’s of 1.
Given that came from just six shots rather than United’s 16, the stats intimate that City worked ourselves into better area before pulling the trigger and there’s no doubt that Haaland and Fernández could have further extended our lead.
The goal has been a source of controversy of course, but for Haaland to find the goal from the angle he did is no mean feat.
The Norwegian has started his fifth season in excellent fashion, with six goals across all competitions including four in the league as he goes in search of a fourth Golden Boot in five years.
Now part of the leadership group, Haaland said this game was one of his favourites in a City shirt – from a man who’s won all the biggest prizes in the game and scored a hat-trick in this particular fixture before.
Maresca and his players made it clear just what the result and nature of the performance meant to them afterwards, while the travelling pocket of City fans revelled in every second of it.
City v Sunderland: Tickets on general sale!
Don’t miss our Premier League encounter with AFC Sunderland – with tickets on general sale.
Our clash with the Black Cats takes place on Sunday 20 September at the Etihad Stadium with a 14:00 (UK) kick-off.
There’s four tickets available to purchase per supporter as well as three additional spots for Season Ticket Members.
Last time out, we defeated the Wearsiders 3-0 thanks to goals from Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and Phil Foden.
Make sure you secure your spot at the Etihad Stadium as we look for another three points this season.