Man Utd beat Man City on the day Rashford set a record

Young striker Rashford scored the only goal to help the "Red Devils" win 1-0 in the Manchester derby on March 20.

Rashford's explosive moment. Photo: Reuters.

After a series of quiet matches, Marcus Rashford emerged as the savior, helping Man Utd recover at a crucial moment. The only goal of the English striker not only brought Man Utd three points, but also helped defeat the same city team right at Etihad. Louis Van Gaal's team thus still has a chance to enter the Top 4 when only one point behind Man City. After being eliminated from the Europa League by Liverpool, this is the only way for Man Utd to win a ticket to the Champions League next season.

18 years and 141 days old. Rashford entered the record books, becoming the youngest player to score in the Manchester derby, 171 matches in history.

Another name that was mentioned a lot but in a negative way. Martin Demichelis had a disastrous day, making consecutive mistakes. The Argentine central defender let his junior Rashford dribble past him as easily as eating candy, leading to the first goal. Next was the situation of pushing Rashford down in the penalty area but luckily the referee did not call a penalty. He was also the reason why Joe Hart was injured and had to leave the field on a stretcher. Immediately after that, Demichelis followed his teammate when coach Manuel Pellegrini was forced to make a substitution. Since the absence of Demichelis, the "entertainment" of the match has decreased by a level.

Demichelis and Mangala formed a central defensive partnership in this match as Vincent Kompany and Otamendi were both injured. The slowness of the Man City centre-back helped Man Utd a lot. Because both Rashford and Anthony Martial were fast, skillful, and easily defeated the home defenders in one-on-one situations. The opening goal was proof.

Demichelis (right) was lucky not to be penalized for pushing Rashford down. Photo: BPI.

Man Utd had less ball possession in this match (45%) but in return they were effective. The away team had five shots throughout the match, four of which were on target. Man Utd's defense also played very focused with the return of Chris Smalling. Michael Carrick did a good job of blocking.

After Demichelis left the field, Man City pushed up the formation to find an equalizer. Sergio Aguero was still the home team's best player when he continuously created opportunities. He once hit the post and several times were blocked by De Gea. But like his teammates, Aguero was quite impatient, leading to his shots often missing the target. Man City had 26 shots in total, but only three were on target.

Aguero hit the post. Photo: Reuters.

In the important match against the fourth-placed competitor, Man City failed to show their true form. Both Yaya Toure and David Silva were lackluster, unable to share the fire with Aguero. Raheem Sterling was injured again, leaving the field in the first half. The hope of keeping up with the top team Leicester was completely gone after the fall at Etihad.

According to VNE