MANCHESTER: Manchester United scored twice in the final three minutes to deepen Premier League champions Manchester City’s crisis with a 2-1 win at the Etihad on Sunday.
City have now won just once in their last 11 games, a run that includes eight defeats.
Josko Gvardiol’s first-half header had put Pep Guardiola’s men in front.
But United hit back for just Ruben Amorim’s second win in five league matches since taking charge last month.
Bruno Fernandes’ penalty levelled before Amad Diallo squeezed home the winner from a narrow angle in the last minute of regular time.
Defeat leaves City still in fifth, nine point off leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
United climb to 12th and within five points of their city rivals.
The Red Devils will be hoping a dramatic victory can also be the starting point for Amorim to turn around the momentum of a rivalry that City have dominated over the past decade.
Amorim made a bold call before kick-off as both Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were left out of the United squad with the Portuguese saying he “pays attention to everything.”
The United boss may have regretted that call as early as the 12th minute when Mason Mount limped off to continue his injury-ravaged spell since joining from Chelsea 18 months ago.
A shortage of confidence in both sides was clear to see in a cagey start.
It took 20 minutes for Phil Foden to have the first attempt on goal with a volley that flew just wide of Andre Onana’s goal.
But United’s set-piece defending has been at the root of their poor start to life under new management.
For the third consecutive Premier League game they conceded from a corner as Kevin De Bruyne’s deflected cross looped perfectly into the path of Gvardiol to head in on 36 minutes.
A slow burn of a derby finally came to life seconds later when Kyle Walker and Rasmus Hojlund went head-to-head with both ending up getting booked.
Foden’s double win this fixture for City last season on their way to an unprecedented fourth consecutive league title.
The England international’s lack of form and fitness has been one of the causes of City’s struggles this season.
However, Foden looked more like his old self as a jinking run and shot that deflected just wide came close to doubling City’s lead before half-time.
United did not manage a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes and Amorim was growing visibly frustrated at his side’s poor play on the ball as the second period started in a similar manner.
A vintage City side under Guardiola would have put their neighbors to the sword, but English champions created nothing of note in the second period.
Diallo finally forced Ederson into action with a header that the Brazilian clawed around the post on the hour mark.
Fernandes then missed a glorious chance to equalize 15 minutes from time when his dink over Ederson drifted wide with just the Brazilian to beat.
However, City were to be the architects of their own downfall.
Matheus Nunes’ short backpass played in Diallo, who was then chopped down by the Portuguese midfielder in his desperation to atone for the original error.
Fernandes this time coolly sent Ederson the wrong way to level.
City’s defense was then undone by one simple long ball over the top by Lisandro Martinez that Diallo raced onto, rounded Ederson and kept his composure to find the net.
Manchester United late show deepens Manchester City crisis
https://arab.news/jwxvb
Manchester United late show deepens Manchester City crisis
- City have now won just once in their last 11 games
- United climb to 12th and within five points of their city rivals
Own goal enough for Al-Ahli as Matchday 24 win keeps pressure on Al-Nassr
- Al-Ahli eke out 1-0 win over Al-Riyadh to keep pressure on Al-Nassr
- Milan Borjan own goal separated the sides at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium
RIYADH: Matchday 24 of the Saudi Pro League kicked off on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the conclusion of the delayed Matchday 10. With the FIFA Arab Cup, World Cup Qualifiers and FIFA World Cup sandwiching the 2025/26 campaign, resting periods have been few and far between outside the international breaks.
With fixtures coming thick and fast, Al-Ahli opted to rest Riyad Mahrez and Enzo Millot for their clash with Al-Riyadh in the capital. Ramadan has further challenged the league schedule, with Matthias Jaissle’s side only arriving in Riyadh at 5:30pm — just hours before kick-off.
With their previous outing against Damac still dominating conversation, Jaissle was keen to ensure his players did not fall into the same trap — namely, being caught off guard by an opponent’s unexpectedly proactive style.
To his relief, Al-Ahli were largely in control this time. Yet the absence of Mahrez limited their creative spark. Relying heavily on Wenderson Galeno down the left, Al-Riyadh did well to crowd the Brazilian and deny him space to operate.
The bane of any expansive side is a compact 5-4-1, and that is precisely how Al-Riyadh’s recently appointed Brazilian manager Mauricio Dulac set his team up. A long-time assistant to former Al-Riyadh coach Odair Hellmann, this marks Dulac’s first managerial role.
Al-Ahli’s attacking routes were severely restricted throughout the first half. Al-Riyadh denied them the opportunity to press high, Mahrez’s trademark diagonals were absent, and finding Ivan Toney in the six-yard box proved a difficult task.
On the rare occasions the visitors broke the defensive line, Milan Borjan stood firm in goal — there was no getting past the Canadian.
That was until first-half stoppage time. Al-Ahli had one more weapon in their arsenal: set-pieces. A lofted delivery from Galeno’s free-kick met the head of Roger Ibañez, who nodded the ball towards goal. Borjan pushed it away, but it was too late — the ball crossed the line.
VAR intervened within seconds. Ibañez was a shoulder offside, and the opener was chalked off. It was a notable twist, particulary as the simultaneous fixture between Al-Fateh and Damac in Al-Ahsa featured a celebration aimed squarely at Al-Ahli and VAR.
Earlier in the week, Damac equalised late against Al-Ahli via Yakou Méïté, only for the goal to be overturned. Méïté reacted angrily and lashed out at referees, but Al-Ahli escaped with the three points. Méïté followed up with a goal against Al-Fateh, and celebrated by mimicking the referee’s VAR signal.
Back in Riyadh, Al-Ahli returned for the second half with renewed intensity. Zakaria Hawsawi grew more adventurous from left-back, threading lofted balls over the Al-Riyadh defence.
In the 53rd minute, he found Toney behind the last defender, but the Englishman’s volley was adeptly saved by Borjan. Five minutes later, Galeno latched onto Hawsawi’s cross and thought he had broken the deadlock — only for the linesman’s flag to rise once again.
Al-Ahli pushed, but as time ticked away, it seemed the coveted winner would elude them. However, once again, set pieces proved decisive.
In the 75th minute, a corner from Saleh Abu Al-Shamat was parried by Borjan, only for his effort to be bundled into his own net, sending the travelling supporters into a frenzy.
After last week’s scare, Al-Ahli knew they had to finish the job. Cue Ibañez, who surged forward from deep before slipping the ball through to Toney to seal the game with what would have been his 24th goal of the season. The run itself deserved a goal, but Toney was flagged inches offside.
Despite another difficult outing, Al-Ahli did enough to secure a clean sheet and grind out a 1-0 victory to move top on 59 points — one ahead of Al-Nassr, who are yet to play this weekend.
Elsewhere, Méïté’s equaliser was later cancelled out by a 77th-minute Mourad Batna penalty, in a match that saw fans commemorate him for surpassing 100 goal contributions with Al-Fateh.
Batna had earlier missed from the spot to the frustation of the home fans, but Al-Fateh’s undefeated streak against Damac at home remains intact as the encounter ended 1-1.
Saudi Pro League action resumes on Friday, with Al-Hazem hosting Al-Ettifaq, Al-Ittihad welcoming Al-Khaleej, and one of Riyadh’s top derbies in Al-Shabab and Al-Hilal. All games kick-off at 10:00pm, in the league’s unified Ramadan schedule.
