Manchester, Dec 16: Amad Diallo struck a 90th-minute winner as Manchester United staged a stunning late comeback to beat Manchester City 2-1 in the Premier League.
Four-time defending champion City led the Manchester derby 1-0 going into the 88th minute at the Etihad Stadium. But the game was turned round in dramatic fashion as Bruno Fernandes levelled from the penalty spot and Diallo sealed victory for United – prompting head coach Ruben Amorim to declare “something magic happened.”
“It was a very tough match but we believe until the end. We managed to score. We needed that win. It was important for us and for our fans,” Amorim said.
City fans jeered at the final whistle as their once dominant team’s woeful run of form extended to one win and eight losses in 11 games.
“I’m the boss, I’m the manager and I’m not good enough. It’s as simple as that,” Guardiola said.
It was a first derby victory for new United head coach Ruben Amorim, who led Sporting Lisbon to a 4-1 win against City in one of his last games in charge of the Portuguese club in November.
But for a long time it looked like being a third-straight league loss for United after Josko Gvardiol’s headed goal in the 36th.
Fernandes was guilty of missing the target when through on goal in the second half and United struggled to create chances against a City team that rarely looked like adding to its lead.
But in a dramatic end to the match, Diallo raced after an underhit backpass from Matheus Nunes. Nunes then brought down the United forward in the box and referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the penalty spot.
Fernandes made no mistake this time – sending Ederson the wrong way.
Moments later, Diallo ran onto a long pass from Lisandro Martinez, flicked the ball high and past Ederson before rolling it into the net from a tight angle.
“We have a lot to do but it was massive for our fans,” Amorim said.
United is 13th and five points behind fifth-place City, which has seen its title defence unravel during its losing run.
“This is a big club and in a big club when you lose eight in 10 (11) something wrong is happening,” Guardiola said.
CHELSEA CHALLENGE
Chelsea, in second, closed the gap on Liverpool to two points after a 2-1 win against Brentford.
It’s now seven straight wins in all competitions for Enzo Maresca’s team, which is unbeaten in 10. It’s last league defeat was in October – a 2-1 loss to Liverpool.
Marc Cucurella scored in the 43rd and Nicolas Jackson made it 2-0 in the 80th for his ninth goal of the season.
Bryan Mbeumo scored for Brentford in the 90th and Cucurella was sent off for a second yellow card in added time.
Chelsea is four points ahead of third-place Arsenal.
MARTIN FIRED
Southampton fired manager Russell Martin after being routed 5-0 by Tottenham.
Last-place Southampton is nine points from safety and appears to be heading straight back to the second tier after earning promotion to the top flight last season.
The decision came on the same day as another relegation-threatened team, Wolverhampton, fired head coach Gary O’Neil. Wolverhampton is second to last in 19th.
Spurs scored all five goals against Southampton before halftime at St Mary’s Stadium, with James Maddison getting two. Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski and Pape Sarr also scored.
Tottenham moved up to 10th and is five points off the Champions League places. (AP)
