Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City; four possible lessons from the Manchester Clash

Manchester United and City locked horns in one of the International Championship Cup in Asia as both sides geared towards the start of the new season with some form of experimentation.

José Mourinho took out time to have a go at some of his new signings like Everton star Romelu Lukaku while Pep Guardiola is still searching for lapses within his team from a tactical point of view.

Nevertheless, when two (big elephant) big sides fight it is the grass (ground/turf) that suffers as it was the occasion with the Manchester sides. In the end it was Jose Mourinho’s side that prevailed 2-0 as Guardiola still have plans of his own ahead of next season.

Following United win over the Noisy Neighbours Manchester City we take a look some of the significant lessons from the game.

LUKAKU’S SHOW OF BRILLIANCE

The former Everton forward took out time to get on the score sheet as he marked his debut with a goal against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side.

Following the speculation linking Manchester United with Spanish forward Alvaro Morata, the Spaniard instead of United choose Chelsea while Jose Mourinho went ahead in the signing of the Belgian international he despised four(4) season a go at Stamford Bridge.

A loose ball into the path of Lukaku and the onrushing City keeper was all that resulted to the first goal as the City goalie missed the clearance which is another goalkeeping howler(Pep)Guardiola has to deal with in the days ahead as Lukaku duly took advantage of the error to superbly finished from the left angle despite some last ditch defending from City players.

RASHFORD DELIVERS FOR UNITED

The English international that was the hope of a fading English campaign at the Euro 2016 was at it again with a goal for the Red Devils. United may have begun the post-Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney’s era in significant fashion as the two likely replacements for the aforementioned duo in Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku(Everton exchange)were on the score sheet to set the tone for Jose Mourinho’s side.

Rashford delivered the goal after nice movement around the City area to extend the Red Devils lead in the match.

Rashford promises to be a big hit for United in the days ahead with the reminder of his superb free-kick which gave United a 0-1 lead against Celta Vigo away from home last season and he is still living up to the expectations on the Red shirt.

MOURINHO KEEPING IT TIGHT

Jose Mourinho has begun the test of the United set-up by infusing strong defensive connotation among the United mix. City had their chances but the unwillingness of Jose’s team to concede is one philosophy and team scheme that has stood Mourinho above the rest. United will play in the Champions League next season by virtue of winning the Europa League Final in Stockholm.

They achieved the feat by defeating Dutch giant Ajax Amsterdam with two unreplied goals from new signing in the duo of Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan which have been exemplary for the Red Devils last season.

This is another product of strong defensive composition (unit) and the Portuguese manager is not letting go of his tactical onus any time soon.

DEFENSIVE WOES FOR GUARDIOLA

The Manchester City side are pretty good in transition with the attacking forays of the likes of Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero looking probably second to that of Barcelona’s MSN (Messi,Neymar,Suarez).

However, one thing that is still missing for the Manchester City is the defensive ability and territorial assertion in the course of a game. This was evident as City managed a narrow 2-1 win against lowly and relegated Sunderland on the opening day of the Premier League.

The defensive set-up at the Etihad Stadium is one thing City and Pep Guardiola of all people must sort out next season as it was really evident as City were kicked out of the Champions League after having a 5-3 first leg win. It was evident against their Manchester rivals as Lukaku hit the cross after the intermission with the possibility of a third goal for United.