Three reasons why City Women triumphed in the Manchester Derby – tactical analysis

Manchester City hosted Manchester United at the Academy Stadium on February 12, 2021 in the 15^th fixture of the FAWSL and it was a very competitive match that witnessed Manchester City’s convincing 3-0 win over an unbalanced Manchester United in this match. The win gave Manchester City three additional points that allowed them to be second of the league at the moment, one point ahead of Manchester United and with a postponed match yet to play.

However, the Red Devils are now holding the third spot after they were at the top of the standings. Nevertheless, they will need to do their best in the upcoming fixtures in order to secure this spot and strive for the second spot which would qualify them to the UEFA Women’s Champions League in the following season. And of course, this will not be easy given the quality of their opponents.

So in this tactical analysis, we will delve deeper into why Manchester United lost this match, what did they do wrong in terms of tactics, and at the same time carrying an analysis of Manchester City’s strong performance and what were the keys to their deserved win in this Manchester Derby.

Lineups

Gareth Taylor chose to start this match with the 4-3-3 formation relying on Ellie Roebuck as a goalkeeper, Lucy Bronze on the right flank, Steph Houghton and Abby Dahlkemper as centre-backs, and Alex Greenwood as a left-back.

In midfield, Keira Walsh, Georgia Stanway and Caroline Weir were the three midfielders who contributed both in attack and in helping the defence and winning the ball back. And In front of them Chloe Kelly played on the right-wing, Lauren Hemp on the left-wing and Ellen White as a striker.

While on the other side, Casey Stoney started the derby with the usual 4-2-3-1 formation. Mary Earps was the team’s goalkeeper, Maria Thorisdottir played as a right-back, Amy Turner and Millie Turner as centre-backs, and Ona Batlle as a left-back.

The midfield consisted of Hayley Ladd and Katie Zelem as central midfielders and in front of them Jackie Groenen played as an advanced playmaker with both Ella Toone and Leah Galton on the wings, while Christen Press was the team’s striker.

Manchester City’s effective pressing and United’s passing issues

Both teams started the match with the intention of winning the battle of midfield and having more possession of the ball in order to create threat. However, Manchester United were not 100% focused in the build-up phase and the Citizens’ continuous high pressing affected their build-up even further. For instance, in this picture you can see how many Manchester City players were surrounding and pressing on Manchester United’s defenders and goalkeeper.