Despite City’s obvious talent and recent history of success, this was arguably the perfect game for Carrick to kick off his reign. The atmosphere was electric well before kick-off, and the home players were clearly buoyed by the support as they showed intensity and ferocity from the start.
In fact, they almost took the lead inside three minutes when Harry Maguire’s header hit the post from Bruno Fernandes’ corner, and that was not the last time the hosts threatened to take the lead before the interval.
After Donnarumma brilliantly denied Italian compatriot Patrick Dorgu, United then had the ball in the back of the net twice, first through Amad Diallo and then Fernandes, yet they were both in offside positions when they ran onto the ball before rounding Donnarumma and tapping into an empty net.
The visitors, meanwhile, dominated possession, but rarely put the Red Devils in any real danger besides a Max Alleyne header that was kept out by Senne Lammens.
The opening stages of the second period were quieter than the first, but the game burst into life once more around the hour mark.
For all of their offensive stars, Donnarumma was his side’s standout player here as his exploits kept them on level terms. The shot-stopper thwarted Amad and denied Casemiro’s attempted chip on the rebound, shortly before making arguably his best save of the day to keep out Bryan Mbeumo’s volley at the back post.
However, Donnarumma was finally beaten in the 65th minute as United made the most of one of their many quick counter-attacks. Fernandes drove forward with the ball and waited for the perfect moment to feed Mbeumo, whose first-time finish found the bottom corner.
City needed to find a response, but they were far too lethargic with the ball at their feet and were unable to get top scorer Erling Haaland into the game.
Instead, United were looking the likelier to score, so it came as little surprise when Dorgu got onto the end of substitute Matheus Cunha’s cross, netting via the post 14 minutes from time.
It could have been even worse for City, as after the upright came to their rescue to keep out Amad, Mason Mount’s simple finish was ruled out for another narrow offside in stoppage time.
Nonetheless, it was an impressive performance from United, who move into the top four provisionally ahead of the remainder of the weekend’s fixtures. In contrast, City’s title challenge suffers another setback, with this result giving PL leaders Arsenal the chance to move nine points clear at the summit.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)