Beneficiary Arsenal?
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Manchester United won the city derby against Manchester City at Old Trafford for the first time in almost exactly three years on interim coach Michael Carrick’s debut. On Saturday afternoon, the Red Devils defeated the Citizens, coached by Pep Guardiola, 2-0 (0-0). Summer signing Bryan Mbeumo (65th) and left-back Patrick Dorgu (76th) scored the goals for the superior hosts.
United’s record against City, which has now been favored in the duels in recent years, actually doesn’t read that badly: of the last five meetings, only two were lost, and the record champions won two out of three times at the Etihad Stadium. At Old Trafford, however, there was only a 0-0 draw in April 2025 and a 3-0 draw in October 2023. United also had home advantage in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium in 2024 (7:8 nE). The last triple point win at home in the Manchester derby was on January 14, 2023, a 2-1 under coach Erik ten Hag.
The victory is the perfect debut for club legend Carrick. The 44-year-old has taken over from Rúben Amorim, who was dismissed at the beginning of the year, until the end of the season. He previously looked after Middlesbrough FC in the Championship for almost three years until the summer of 2025.
With the win, Man United moves up to fourth place in the Premier League table with 35 points. If it stays that way, the record champions would be in a Champions League position for the first time this season after one match day. Liverpool (also 35 points), surprise team Brentford (33) and Newcastle (32) can still overtake. City and Guardiola, on the other hand, are threatened with an even greater gap to league leaders Arsenal FC, who are currently six points ahead. The Gunners play at Nottingham on Saturday evening (6:30 p.m.). Even before that, Aston Villa could move City, who have not won four league games in a row, into third place against Everton (4 p.m.).
