“This was his Vincent Kompany moment” – Full player ratings as Man City mow down Man Utd in EFL Cup semi-final
In an open and intense night of football, Manchester City beat Manchester United 0-2 to make their fourth-consecutive EFL Cup final.
Pep Guardiola’s men will now meet José Mourinho’s Spurs at Wembley. Meanwhile it’s yet another semi-final defeat for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United (the second consecutive Manchester derby defeat in the EFL Cup semis).
Here’s how the players rated at Old Trafford:
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Manchester United
Dean Henderson – 7 – Made some stunning saves to keep City at bay. Could do nothing about either City goal.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 6 – Defended his flank with authority as always. A perfect 5/5 tackles made him hard to get by but City still found a way to punish The Red Devils (and his poor clearance led to City’s second).
Victor Lindelof – 4 – A reasonably good performance spoiled by some classically Lindelof defending. The Swede failed to clear the cross for City’s opening goal despite being tasked to man the near-post. It was just miserable.
Harry Maguire – 7 – Some excellent defending to cover for the absolute disasters either side of him, but blotted his copybook by not reacting in to stop Stones from scoring.
Luke Shaw – 4 – Another disasterclass. Or a masterpiece in doing nothing. Created no attacking pressure, chose to overlap at all the wrong moments, lost John Stones for the opening goal and was constantly standing in the wrong position.
Scott McTominay – 6 – Worked hard but seemed confused as to his role, and given United weren’t parking the bus his skill as a roadblock went underused while his passing limitations became more obvious.
Fred – 7 – An decent performance from United’s Brazilian as he closed down and harried City’s men and moved the ball forward smartly.
After 75 minutes, Bruno Fernandes is the only Manchester United player to have a shot on target against Manchester City (2).
15 minutes left to find an equaliser. pic.twitter.com/ubTbqrV0ht
— Squawka (@Squawka) January 6, 2021
Paul Pogba – 5 – Some fantastic runs forward didn’t amount to much of anything as The Red Devils faltered in the final third.
Bruno Fernandes – 5 – For once Fernandes looked unable to carry United on his shoulders. Full of bright ideas but the execution on his passes and shots was just off by a little bit, so nothing really happened when he was on the ball which is obviously strange. Needs a rest.
Marcus Rashford – 6 – Really good first-half, a bit slower second-half.
Anthony Martial – 4 – Awful performance. Constantly demanding the ball but doing nothing with it except for getting in people’s way and slowing the play down. Even managed to contribute to City’s second with an awful headed clearance. Very lucky to last the 90 minutes.
Substitutes:
Mason Greenwood (for McTominay 75′) – 6 – Added some drive. Would have been nice to see him come on earlier and play centrally.
Donny van de Beek (for Fred 88′) – n/a – Came on way too late to do anything when he could have arguably started.
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Manchester City
Zack Steffen – 6 – Wasn’t tested all that often by some wayward United shooting but performed well when he was.
Joao Cancelo – 7 – A bit sloppy with the ball in the first-half, committing unnecessary giveaways, but still ended up being a great source of penetrative play for City.
John Stones has scored his first goal for Man City since November 2017 against Napoli in the Champions League.
The first time Manchester United have conceded in the League Cup this season. pic.twitter.com/PtD2W3QyRh
— Squawka (@Squawka) January 6, 2021
John Stones – 9 – Vincent Kompany made a habit of scoring big goals, particularly against Manchester United. John Stones had never looked worthy to inherit the big Belgian’s mantle as not only City’s best defender but also their leader. However he’s been on a fantastic run of late and he almost capped it all off tonight at Old Trafford.
The Englishman was simply sublime against United, rebuffing every attack and constantly denying The Red Devils anything. His night was capped off by two moments of excellence; one where he chased down, dispossessed and spun Paul Pogba like a top, and the other where he, y’know, scored the opening goal of the game.
This was his Vincent Kompany moment.
Ruben Dias – 9 – A relentlessly brilliant performance yet again from the rock solid defender. Nothing fancy, just got in the way and got the ball out of danger zones whenever United managed to penetrate. Has been transformative for the Manchester City defence and looks to have wonderful chemistry with Stones.
Rúben Dias for Manchester City against Manchester United:
◉ Most touches (107)
◉ Most passes (92)
◉ Most clearances (6)
◉= Most tackles (3)
◉ Most shots blocked (2)What a signing he has been for Man City. pic.twitter.com/NoVybNr8Vj
— Squawka (@Squawka) January 6, 2021
Oleksandr Zinchenko – 6 – Got given the run-around at the back but was always willing to work and provide width.
Fernandinho – 8 – Couldn’t contain United streaming in behind the City midfield in the way that he used to but did settle the game as a contest with a stunning second-half volley and was quite typically excellent with the ball.
Ilkay Gundogan – 8 – Another brilliant performance at the heart of midfield from the German midfielder as he helped Fernandinho control proceedings and direct traffic to the sides key playmakers.
Phil Foden – 7 – A quite simply sublime cross into the penalty area for the first City goal. Didn’t do too much else but that moment was so decisive as his cross made a mockery of the whole United defence.
Riyad Mahrez – 6 – A lively showing from Mahrez, constantly moving in behind. Pull a magnificent save out of Dean Henderson.
Kevin De Bruyne – 7 – No one created more chances than Kevin De Bruyne’s 2 and he nearly opened the scoring with a piledriver of a shot in the first-half. His movement was constantly creating trouble for United but none of his team-mates were on his level.
Raheem Sterling – 5 – Typically poor against Manchester United. One header aside he barely registered as a presence.
Substitutes:
Rodri (for Mahrez 79′) – n/a – Came on late.
