After some weeks of uncertainty for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s job at Manchester United, a significant challenge awaits him in the form of the first Manchester derby of the 2021/22 season.
The game follows a promising 3-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League which resuscitated Solskjaer’s time at Old Trafford and gave him an extra chance to prove he is the man for the job.
In his time managing United, the club legend has kept a decent record against Manchester City, creating some brilliant memories and accumulating some handy results. In this article, we will look back onto some of the more notable meetings between the two Manchester sides in recent seasons.
The most recent Manchester derby brought us an outstanding performance from the Reds. United halted Pep Guardiola’s side by ending their winning run of 21 games with a 2-0 victory at the Etihad. Solskjaer’s men took the game in their stride straight from the first whistle, with Bruno Fernandes slotting away a penalty after just one minute of play.
Soon after half-time, Luke Shaw scored the insurance goal of the game and ultimately, United went on to win the game. A performance showing solidity in defence to hold off City led to a great victory away from home for Solskjaer and his team.
Moving back in time to Solskjaer’s first full season in charge at the club, where he managed to secure the double over Pep Guardiola. The first of the two victories in this Premier League campaign came in December, where the sides clashed at the Etihad.
Quickfire first-half goals from Marcus Rashford, who scored from the spot, and Anthony Martial secured United a 2-1 victory over their neighbours, despite a late header from Nicolas Otamendi closing the gap between the two by one. Solskjaer set up his team to be resilient and consequently won the game.
The second meeting of this season would turn out to be United’s last game in front of fans for the foreseeable future as the two sides met again just before the season was put on hold with the outbreak of COVID-19. A cleverly orchestrated free-kick in the first half set away United’s lead with Anthony Martial.
Ending the game, Scott McTominay was gifted a chance by Ederson, who threw the ball away leaving a wide open net for McTominay who capitalised by burying home an effort from forty yards.
In the Premier League, Solskjaer has only been defeated by Manchester City once, in the first derby he took charge of in April 2019. With a side he inherited from Jose Mourinho that won in the derby prior to this one, the Norwegian lost the game in a 2-0 defeat at home.
Our rivals appeared tame for the first half of this game, before Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sane handed Ole his first derby defeat as Manchester United manager.
With doubts over whether Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the right man for the job now, he has a big opportunity to prove he is ready to keep carrying the team in the direction it needs. He faces a City side who will have come off the back of an out-of-character defeat to Crystal Palace last weekend.
With City perhaps in a bad form at the moment, Solskjaer will need to exploit them how they can to secure a vital three-points and his team will need to follow suit if they want to prove they are fighting for their manager.
Originally published for The United Stand.
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