Well, if the champagne was ready and the ice was frozen; then it was a sheer waste of money and excitement as Manchester City totally ruined the party mood that engulfed the stadium at halftime. After a scintillating and dominating first-half performance, City failed to back it up with professionalism in the second half of the match. Manchester United scored thrice under twenty-five minutes to gain a lead in the match and then shut up shop until the end to deny their city rivals a chance to celebrate the title victory in presence of the Red Devils. Let us see how each City player fared in the game:
Ederson: 6/10
The Brazilian was complacent at times in the second half but was commanding in the first half and could have done a bit better to save the first goal from Pogba.
Danilo: 6/10
Danilo showed some good footwork to make his way into United’s box in the first half but was eventually pegged back when the opposition raised the intensity in the second half. He committed the foul that eventually led to the winner resulting from Sanchez’s free kick.
Vincent Kompany: 7/10
Scored a thunderous header to hand City the lead and was uncompromising in defence by denying his compatriot Lukaku any chance at winning aerial duels.
Nicolas Otamendi: 5/10
Otamendi was reading the game well initially but made a couple of errors in the second half as he let the game flow through him and should have tracked Smalling for the winner.
Fabian Delph: 6/10
Did a decent job in defence and often tried to link up with Sane but, like all his teammates even he misplaced passes and was poor in his overall play in the second half.
Fernandinho: 7/10
The Brazilian broke attacks exceptionally well and didn’t afford United much space in the midfield in the first-half. He resorted to rash tackles and unnecessary arguments in the second half.
Ilkay Gundogan: 7.5/10
The German shifted to a more central role as the game progressed and bombed into the box at times to take a shot at goal. He showed some good skill on the ball to score his goal in the 30th minute.
David Silva: 7/10
Silva was a lightning figure in the first-half as he made some excellent horizontal runs and also sent in some enticing deliveries into the box. He could have scored a goal in the first half but was let down by some poor finishing.
Leroy Sane: 5.5/10
Sane used his pace to good effect and also took a fizzing corner that resulted in Kompany’s goal. After that, he hardly looked threatening, failed to put in decent crosses, and was wayward with possession.
Raheem Sterling: 4/10
Sterling had a shocker as he failed to put away at least three easy chances that could have put the game to bed. However, the team ended up suffering in the end.
Bernardo Silva: 5.5/10
Showed some good movement in the final third with his touches and crosses but was largely anonymous for major portions of the game.
Substitutes:
Kevin de Bruyne: 7/10
The Belgian had an instant impact on the game as his dazzling runs and cross-field balls, as well as lobbed passes created some chances for his forwards.
Gabriel Jesus: 5/10
Jesus was majorly involved in the spat with Herrera, forced himself into unnecessary rash challenges whereas the Basque was calm and clever towards the end of the game.
Sergio Aguero: 6/10
The Argentine was denied a potentially brilliant equalizer by an excellent save from David de Gea in the 89th minute.
