Marcus Rashford kept up his stunning scoring streak to complete an incredible 2-1 comeback win for Manchester United over rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford, denting their neighbours’ Premier League title challenge and perhaps launching one of their own.
City looked set to complete back-to-back derby doubles over United when Jack Grealish stepped off the bench to head the visitors in front (60).
But after a VAR check cleared Rashford from being offside in the build-up to Bruno Fernandes’ equaliser (78) – to the fury of City’s players – the England man turned in Alejandro Garnacho’s cross four minutes later to score for a ninth time in a row on his home ground.
City’s 6-3 thrashing of United in October had been a bruising reality check after a four-game Premier League winning streak but Erik ten Hag’s side have developed significantly since those early days and are now up to third in the table, just a point behind their local rivals and six off leaders Arsenal, ahead of the North London derby on Sunday.
It’s the second damaging result of the week for Pep Guardiola, with defeat in his 500th top-flight game as a manager coming just days after his side crashed out of the Carabao Cup at Southampton. This had been another below-par performance until Grealish’s goal and, with four points dropped from four games since the restart after the World Cup, their match with Tottenham on Thursday looks like another crucial one.
The momentum is certainly with the red half of Manchester now. United have won nine on the spin in all competitions, 12 in a row at home, and can close in on Arsenal when they go to the Emirates next weekend, after a trip to Crystal Palace on Wednesday. For the supporters who stayed behind to celebrate, they feel something special is happening under Ten Hag.
