Most passes, take-ons and chances created: United poor, but one Red can hold his head high after derby defeat

Manchester United slumped to a lacklustre 1-0 defeat in the first Manchester derby of the campaign.

What’s worse, they did it on home soil and against a 10-man Manchester City team.

United vs City: What happened on Sunday?

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Phil Foden was controversially shown a straight red card in the first half for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes, who, in fairness, did do his bit to instigate the incident by fouling the forward and kicking him after he dropped to the floor.

Remarkably, Enzo Maresca explained post-match that he believed City being a player down actually negatively impacted United’s game plan, which his side were then able to take advantage of.

Either way, it’s now two losses, one win and one draw in the Premier League for Michael Carrick and his men this season, leaving United 13th-placed by the end of the weekend.

How Kobbie Mainoo fared on derby day

One Red who can hold his head high after the afternoon’s dismal affairs in M16 is Kobbie Mainoo.

He played the full 90 minutes of the contest, and ended his shift having made the most touches (83), most successful passes (65), most take-ons (three) and most chances created (three), as per StatmanDave.

The youngster has been back to his best since returning to the starting XI; Mainoo was left out of the line-up on the opening day of the term due to his late World Cup involvement – and therefore shorter pre-season – but has started every game since, including last week’s Champions League outing.

United are next in action on Wednesday night, when they kick off their Carabao Cup campaign against notorious bogey team Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Seagulls enter the tie on the back of a 5-0 away win over Coventry City, and they sit fourth in the league after matchweek four.

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