Despite trailing at half-time, a brace from Phil Foden and a goal from Erling Haaland win the Manchester derby for City and inflict Man Utd’s first league defeat from a half-time lead in over nine years. We look back at the key Manchester City vs Manchester United stats.
Manchester City came from behind to secure a crucial Manchester derby win at the Etihad Stadium, with Phil Foden’s two second-half goals seeing his side come from behind to secure points once again in their quest for a fourth consecutive top-flight title – something no club has ever achieved in England.
Before today, Manchester United had been unbeaten in their last 143 Premier League matches when leading at half-time (W123, D20) – a record dating back to 21 September 2014 against Leicester City (lost 5-3).
Now in the final stretch of the season, single results can have a big say in the title race. Just before Foden’s 56th-minute equaliser, they’d moved from favourites for the Premier League title with the Opta supercomputer pre-match (47.6%) to second favourites (40.5%) behind Liverpool (44.7%). Now, following this comeback victory, they are once again favourites at 52.9%.
Marcus Rashford opened the scoring with a sensational long-range strike on eight minutes. It was his fifth goal in a Manchester derby, with only five players scoring more in league competition for United against City in history.
It was the 12th time that Man City had fallen behind in a Premier League game this season. Only in 2019-20 (13) have they done so more in a single league campaign under Pep Guardiola, and that was the last campaign in which they did not win the title. However, unlike that season (just 10 points recovered from losing positions), City have been able to recover from falling behind in 2023-24 – only Liverpool (22) have won more points from behind than City (21).
If Rashford’s strike was deemed difficult to score, Erling Haaland’s shocking open-goal miss on the stroke of half-time was one of the easiest he’ll ever be presented with in the Premier League. That was one of 18 shots than City attempted in the first half – the most Man Utd have faced in the first half of a league game in 15 years. Of course, as we pointed out earlier this week, this is a Man United team that face a lot of shots, and the second half continued in the same vein.
It was with their 21st shot that they finally scored via Foden’s rocket into the same top corner that Rashford had opened the scoring in. Four shots and 24 minutes later, Foden scored again – his 18th of the season in all competitions and his best return in a single campaign at the club.
Foden attempted nine of Man City’s 27 shots today, which is his highest tally in a single Premier League appearance. A scorer of a hat-trick in this exact fixture last season at the Etihad Stadium, Foden’s two goals in this game mean that he’s also scored six in all competitions against Man Utd, which is his joint-most against any single opponent (also six vs Brighton).
After his earlier miss, Haaland made amends and finally got on the scoresheet in added time with his sixth Manchester derby goal in only his fifth appearance in the fixture. That strike was his 80th in all competitions for Man City since signing in the summer of 2022, a tally that is 31 more than any other player for a Premier League club in that period (Mohamed Salah’s 49 for Liverpool, the next most).
Although they took the lead, United can’t have too many complaints about losing a game in which they only had 26.3% possession and 60 fewer touches in the opposition box than their rivals (69 vs 9). They only attempted one shot after the 23rd minute (a weak Casemiro effort in injury time from a free kick), while the second half saw Erik ten Hag’s side complete just 42 passes in the opposition half – 223 fewer than City (265).
Based on Opta’s projections, the Premier League is still in an excellent position to earn an extra UEFA Champions League spot for 2024-25. With United looking like outsides for a top-four finish – the Opta supercomputer gives them a 11.8% chance of ending within the top five.
This defeat, although not unexpected in fairness, hasn’t helped them. With 11 games to play, they need to overhaul a six-point deficit to Tottenham, who also have a game in hand. They may have to make do with UEFA Europa League football next season, but it feels increasingly unlikely that Ten Hag will be the man in charge by that point.
Manchester City vs Manchester United Post-Match Facts
- This was the first time that Manchester City had ever come from behind to beat Manchester United in a Premier League match, in the 29th occasion of them falling behind in this fixture in the competition (D3 L25). They had lost the previous 15 times in a row that they had trailed against Man Utd in the league before today.
- Manchester United lost a Premier League game in which they led at half-time for the first time since September 2014 against Leicester (5-3), ending their run of 143 unbeaten games when ahead at the break in the competition since then (W123 D20).
- This was the 12th time that Man City fell behind in a Premier League game this season; only in 2019-20 (13) have they done so more in a single campaign under Pep Guardiola. Despite this, they have recovered 21 points from losing positions in the competition this term, their most ever in a Premier League season (previously 20 in 1993-94).
- Manchester City have completed a Premier League double over rivals Manchester United for a sixth time – with half of these coming under Pep Guardiola (also 2018-19 and 2021-22).
- This was Man Utd’s 11th Premier League defeat of the season; only in 2013-14 and 2021-22 (both 12) have they suffered more in a campaign in the competition.
- Man City fired in 18 shots in the first half of this game – since Opta have this data available (from 2003-04), this was the joint-most Man Utd have faced in the first half of a Premier League game (also 18 vs Fulham in March 2009).
- Marcus Rashford has scored five goals in Manchester derbies in the Premier League; only Wayne Rooney (8) and Eric Cantona (7) have scored more such goals for Manchester United.
- Phil Foden has scored six Premier League goals against Manchester United, his joint-most against a single side (also 6 vs Brighton), while teammate Erling Haaland also has six Premier League goals against the Red Devils, his outright most against a single opponent. Indeed, only Sergio Agüero (8) has more Manchester derby goals in the competition for Man City than the pair.
- Phil Foden has scored 18 goals in all competitions for Man City this season – his most ever in a single campaign, surpassing the 16 he netted in 2020-21.
- Manchester United attempted just three shots in this match; only once on record (from 2003-04) have they had fewer in a single Premier League game (2 vs Liverpool in April 2022).
Manchester City vs Manchester United Timeline
Manchester City vs Manchester United Stats Centre
Our Opta match centre delivers you all of the Manchester City vs Manchester United stats from Sunday’s Premier League derby match at the Etihad Stadium.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own analysis of the game.
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