“I don’t want him in my team” Sir Jim Ratcliffe has instructed Erig Ten Hag to get rid of Man U star after gifting City the Community shield
At Wembley, Alejandro Garnacho was on Manchester United’s bench for the first time since October. Next week he will not be present against Fulham.
By coincidence, Erik ten Hag listed Garnacho as a replacement on the last time versus City. Against the champions 11 weeks on from the FA Cup final, Garnacho once more proved his potency.
Starting where he finished last season, Garnacho, Wembley’s opening scorer, began Ten Hag has a surfeit of alternatives in attack even without a regular striker; Garnacho should be elevated back to the starting line-up against Fulham on Friday.
About as far distant as his tap-in last term, his second derby goal Given that Garnacho received the ball on the right wing, supposedly his weaker position, his individual effort was all the more amazing. He was playing there when he profite from City’s prior year’s mix-up.
Unlike in May, the game was not settled in the 90 minutes. United’s habit of late goals carried on as Bernardo Silva surprised Facundo Pellistri to level the 89th minute. Again for the penalty shootout, garnacho put the ball in the other corner.
The City banners proudly claimed to be “The best team in the nation and all the world”. Their sweep of accolades in 2023 was not entirely pristine since the Community Shield escaped them for a third year straight. By 2024 they have at last acquired their hands back on it.
United began with a smaller squad than in the last Wembley derby. Though there will be more arrivals at Carrington shortly in the former Ajax combination Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, Joshua Zirkzee, the only summer arriving in the team, was an unused replacement.
Seven of the United starting players were on American tour. Dynamic over the pond, Mason Mount and Marcus Rashford did not create a splash this side of the Atlantic.
Mount was assigned as No. 10 with Bruno Fernandes serving as the false nine. Ten Hag was reminded by Fernandes; he is the playmaker who drives United forward, hammering in a magnificent goal-that-never-was as he strayed offside to get the ball.
Rashford skipped two available spaces. From Garnacho’s quick cross, the second was so obvious that Ruud van Nistelrooy walked out and onto the touchline to applaud him gently for many seconds.
This was an event unlike the conclusion of last season, shown by the empty seats in the hotel area either side of the dug out. When Fernandes saw Ederson lacked a single partner, he stopped pressuring him. Not a booking till the sixty-eight minute.
Offering Kobbie Mainoo scraps, the United skipper was as slow as usual. Mount touched base with Amad following a reserved start. Amad could not hide his annoyance with colleagues passing on diagonal passes to him.
When Amad at last got the ball, he misled Josko Gvardiol and got Ten Hag applauding. Moments later, he created an even better chance by silky one-two with Casemiro; yet, he was unselfish when he had to be selfish. Amad’s planned pass for Mount went off, and the crestfallen winger had several seconds to free himself from the side netting.
On Casemiro stepping up for the national anthem at the same stadium where he was sacked in May, there would have been heavy odds. Originally a defensive, rather than an attacking midfielder, the 32-year-old was an offensive asset in his debut year with United. He cleverly set up opportunities for Rashford and Amad.
Harry Amass appeared as sure to start as anybody for United, even at 17 years old without a career appearance. Rather, he had to settle for the spectators as the sole travelling outfield player dropped from the matchday roster. To enhance his second matchday experience at the national stadium, Amass was allowed to warm up with the designated replacements.
Particularly irrational was that. Five of United’s defenders had already fallen victim to injuries; they lacked a single defender on the bench. Pellistri, loaned to Granada in January and surplus to needs, only checked in at Carrington on Monday and was assigned a seat for a substitute.
Still among the first substitutes to show in and slosh in at right back was Pellistri. The fish out of water staggered for Bernardo’s leveller.
