MU Gilas Manchester City 4-2, Meski Keduluan Dibobol Aguero
Van Gaal Enjoys Derby Success as United Come from Behind
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
Manchester (B2B) - Manchester United kerap disebut MU sukses mempertahankan posisinya di baris ketiga klasemen Liga Utama Inggris setelah menaklukkan saingan terdekatnya Manchester City 4-2 dalam laga derby di Old Trafford, Minggu malam.
Manchester United yang tampil agresif sejak awal laga, justru kebobolan lebih dulu oleh gol cepat Sergio Aguero ketika pertandingan baru berlangsung 8 menit.
Aguero mencetak gol dari jarak sangat dekat memanfaatkan umpan David Silva yang merangsek ke jantung pertahanan United dari sisi kanan, setelah sebelumnya upaya Yaya Toure berhasil diblok pemain belakang United.
United nyaris menyamakan skor menit 12, sesaat setelah Ashley Young dilanggar Gael Clichy. Assist silang Ander Herrera semenit kemudian, disambut tendangan kaki kanan oleh Young dari tengah kotak penalti, namun masih terblok, seperti dilansir Yahoo! Sports.
Namun, dua menit kemudian, upaya Young membuahkan hasil. Tendangan kaki kanannya dari sebelah kiri gawang City berbuah gol. Bola bersarang di sudut kanan atas gawang City dan mengubah skor menjadi 1-1.
Pendukung Manchester kembali bersorak riang ketika Marouane Fellaini membawa Manchester United berbalik unggul lewat golnya menit 27. Gol kedua United ini juga tidak lepas dari peran Ashley Young sebagai pengumpan.
Pada babak kedua, United pun mengawali dengan sejumlah tekanan dan konsisten bermain cepat dan sering menekan.
United mendapatkan peluang ketika Mata dijatuhkan Navas menit 51. Wayne Rooney yang mengeksekusi tendangan bebas, melayangkan tembakan keras dengan kaki kanannya, namun masih berhasil diblok kiper Joe Hart.
Bola mental Joe Hart pun masih jatuh ke ke kaki pemain United, beberapa pemain asuhan van Gaal yang berada di kotak penalti City beberapa kali mencoba melayangkan tembakan tapi tidak mampu menembus hadangan pemain belakang City.
Kerja keras dan permainan apik United kembali membuahkan hasil nyata pada menit 67 ketika Juan Mata menambahkan gol untuk mengantar tuan rumah unggul 3-1. Umpan matang Rooney dari diselesaikan dengan baik oleh Mata dan bola melewati di antara kaki Joe Hart sebelum masuk ke gawang City.
City makin tenggelam dalam ketertinggalan saat Chris Smalling dengan sundulan kepalanya mampu membawa Manchester United kian memimpin 4-1. Umpan silang Ashley Young dari tendangan bebas, diselesaikan dengan gemilang oleh Smalling pada menit 73.
Setelah beberapa kali peluang Manchester United gagal, City hanya mampu memperkecil kekalahan menjadi 4-2 melalui gol kedua Aguero dalam laga ini pada menit 89.
Dengan kemenangan itu, Manchester United lebih aman dan berhasil mempertahankan posisinya di peringkat tiga dengan skor 65, hanya terpaut satu poin dengan Arsenal yang berada di posisi dua.
Manchester City, yang gagal merebut tempat ketiga dari Manchester United, tetap bercokol di posisi empat dengan perolehan poin 61, sedangkan Chelsea kokoh dengan poin 73 di puncak klasemen.
Manchester - Sergio Aguero scored just eight minutes in, and Manchester United had memories of the last four meetings dancing in their heads. Those memories would soon disappear.
The home side scored four unanswered goals and roared past their cross-town rivals behind stellar play from Juan Mata and Ashley Young, with both finishing on the score sheet bracketed by Marouane Fellaini and Chris Smalling as United all but secured a return to Champions League play next season. It gave Manchester United a 4-2 win, their sixth in a row, and put a stop to City’s four match win streak in the Manchester derby.
With little to lose between these two teams thanks to the large gap between 4th and 5th place in the table, both sides went for it early. Manchester City had the early opportunities just five minutes in. A shot from Jesus Navas was saved from a tight angle by David De Gea, and then Yaya Toure seemed to have all day in the box to rip off a shot but Michael Carrick came in heroically to block the attempt.
The early pressure would pay off though, as City would go up early at Old Trafford. James Milner found David Silva at the left edge of the box, and the Spaniard delivered a low ball to Sergio Aguero all alone in the box for an easy tap-in and a 1-0 lead inside 10 minutes.
It wouldn’t last long though, as a crazy sequence led to an equalizer from Ashley Young. Nearly caught out at the back on a poor back-pass, David de Gea hammered the ball into the attacking half, and it fell to Ander Herrera. The Spaniard burst forward past Pablo Zabaleta who fell down, and he delivered a quick cross and caught Young making a run. The English international nearly flubbed the chance under pressure, but he stuck with it and poked the ball home while falling down to level the score inside 15 minutes.
City went right back down and pressured the United back line, but it would be the home side to take control. Just as things looked to be settling down, United roared again just before the half-hour mark. A fabulous cross from Young at the top corner of the box went across the face of goal and fell to Marouane Fellaini at the far post who headed home under the arm of Joe Hart for a 2-1 lead.
There was a scary moment for Vincent Kompany and City just before halftime, as the Belgian defender went rashly into Daley Blind, but after a long conference between referee Mark Clattenburg and his assistant, Kompany got off with just a yellow card. Kompany appeared to be injured just before or during the tackle, and was substituted off after the break.
City had plenty of defending to do early on, in a furious spell on 52 minutes where Joe Hart made a save on a Wayne Rooney free kick and Carrick’s follow-up, and then another pair of shots were blocked before the chance came to an end. The Red Devils continued to be a threat, though, and they’d get a third to seal the victory.
Rooney found a streaking Mata through on goal past the back line, and the Spaniard finished on a tight angle past Hart one-on-one. Replays showed Mata was a healthy bit offside on the pass, but the flag stayed down and United went 3-1 up with just under a half-hour to play.
A fourth would come from Chris Smalling on an Ashley Young free-kick minutes later as Old Trafford exploded. Eliaquim Mangala, Kompany’s replacement, played three Red Devils onside as Young sent in the ball, allowing United in on net. Aguero would get a second goal late, his 100th Manchester City goal but nothing more than a consolation. It came partly thanks to an injury for Carrick that sent him straight off the pitch and down the tunnel, leaving United with just 10 men for the final three minutes.
The win gives Manchester United a four point cushion above City in third place, just a point back of Arsenal in second. The defending champions, meanwhile, have work to do to secure their own Champions League spot, but do have a five point gap above Southampton in fifth.
