Manchester United’s attackers were agents of chaos in transition in their win against Man City, but Harry Maguire’s role in the opener is going under the radar.
Harry Maguire put in a battling display in man utd 2:0 win over man city to kick off Micheal carrick tenure at Old trafford with a bang.
Carrick admitted after the game that he risked Maguire because he hadn’t trained much, but it was enough for him to boss the game.
He could have scored the opener himself as he struck the post with a header in the early exchanges, but when the opener was scored, his role in it was pure class.
Harry Maguire’s role in Man Utd’s opener vs City
United’s first goal vs City was a throwback to United at their best, as they cut through city defense with sharp, vertical, quick passes on transition.
Bruno fernandez carried the ball up the pitch in a 4v2 situation and calmly slid the ball through to Bryan Mbuemo who finally broke through Donnarumma.
Fernandes was credited with an assist, Mbeumo scored his first-ever league goal against City, but the man who put it all in motion was Harry Maguire.
United’s chance actually came from a City free kick near the edge of the box, and it was conceded by Maguire, going in hard on Haaland.
It left Maguire with a bleeding knee and in need of treatment, which must have worried Carrick because he was already risked.
However, Maguire shook it off, defended the free-kick, and got his head at the end of the delivery to pass it to who else but Fernandes.
The Portuguese took care of it from that point, and the end result was a goal, but none of it could have happened without Maguire showing grit to shake off a brutal-looking knock and then dominating the aerial ball immediately afterward.
The team has been accused of having a soft underbelly in recent weeks, and it is not a coincidence that the period matched with Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt’s absence.
The two defenders set the tone with their aggressive defending, and there is no substitute for experience either.
The two defenders set the tone with their aggressive defending, and there is no substitute for experience either.
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