With the help of playmaker, Bernardo Silva’s thunderous strike and Manchester United’s poor defensive display in the first half helped Manchester City to secure a 3-1 win at Old Trafford in the first round of the Carabao Cup semifinal fixture.
Pep Guardiola fielded a full-strength side compared to Manchester United’s makeshift midfield and defense. This made December 7th’s result unlikely for Manchester United when they defeated Blues with a scoreline of 2-1.
Manchester City set the game on the tempo and started to pick up Manchester United’s errors and exploit them. Bernardo Silva’s 17th-minute curling effort helped Manchester City to gain the lead. Bernardo Silva’s shot from 20 yards was unstoppable and David de Gea couldn’t have a hand on it.
As the clock approached the half-an-hour mark, Riyad Mahrez doubled the lead for Cityzens. Silva’s ball through counter-attack was collected by the Algerian international and rounded United’s shot-stopper. Then he guided the ball into the open net.
To make the matter worse for Red Devils, the shot from Kevin de Bruyne was handled by David de Gea. But his shot was deflected and re-directed to their own net by Andreas Periera in the 39th minute. Manchester City were 3-0 up by the stroke of half time.
Talking of their first-half performance, Bernardo Silva said;
“We could have gone in four or five up at halftime, we had the chances. They pressed us higher in the second half, we got tired but overall we are happy,”
“I enjoyed my role — because it worked and we won. Pep wanted one more man in the middle.”
In the second half, Manchester United looked like a different side and pressed up the opposition higher. Introduction of Nemanja Matic at the half time helped United to get hold of the ball and could try to attack. Manchester United’s captain for the day, Marcus Rashford, collected the perfectly weighted pass from Mason Greenwood and scored the ball past Claudio Bravo. The 70th-minute goal might have helped Manchester
FULL-TIME | A great lead to take back to the Etihad in three weeks 👏👏👏
🔴 1-3 🔵 #ManCity #CarabaoCup pic.twitter.com/4ZOwW5NcnG
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 7, 2020
After the victory in an away game, Pep Guardiola said that they aren’t completely assured of their place in the finals and remembered Manchester United’s win in Paris. He said;
“The last game, we could not control when we lost the ball and tonight we did it better,” told the BBC. “We lost the ball in a position which is so dangerous [for the United goal]. We cannot forget which team we play. Tonight we can be more than satisfied to come here to Old Trafford and win.
“It is not over. We have one more game and we’ll see what happens.
“Of course Manchester United can come back. Last year here they lost to PSG and they qualify. They have the shirt which means history and pride.”
