Man City 1-2 Man United: Late goals from Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo see Ruben Amorim win his first Manchester derby in dramatic style
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They did their best here for Pep Guardiola. They sang for him before kick-off. They hung a huge banner carrying his name, face and list of achievements over the lower tier of the huge stand opposite his seat in the dug-out. This was a show of loyalty and support as pre-orchestrated and deliberate as anything we have seen during Guardiola’s gilded tenancy at the Etihad Stadium. It spoke of a deep love but also a deep need.
![[United had been losing until the 88th minute until a burst of brilliance from star man Amad]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/18/93171765-14195207-image-a-14_1734287408309.jpg)
But then, like it always does, it all came down to the football. The football always speaks for a manager. It always speaks for his team. And the hard, stark and almost unpalatable truth of this conversation is that by the end of this extraordinary Manchester derby, Guardiola – perhaps the greatest coach of his generation – looked ever more like a man being dragged down in to an abyss from which he may never crawl out.
![[United manager Ruben Amorim pictured (right) embracing City boss Pep Guardiola after beating him in his first ever Manchester derby]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/18/93172063-14195207-image-m-37_1734288057957.jpg)
By 6.30pm on this dank, damp Manchester afternoon, City had been beaten once again. Beaten up by a cosh that had their own name on it. Self-harm triggered by self-doubt and a lack of confidence and belief so deep and so obvious it now asks grave questions of Guardiola and his capacity to recover from a run of results that now stands at one win in eleven games.
![[Amad's late winning goal came just moments after he had won a penalty kick for his team]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/18/93171763-14195207-image-a-15_1734287415005.jpg)
Afterwards, with the Manchester United celebrations still raging in an away dressing room down the corridor, Guardiola sat in front of the media and declared himself not good enough. He didn’t really mean it. But he said it anyway. A scrambled quote from a scrambled mind.
![[United captain Bruno Fernandes converted the penalty to draw United level in the 88th minute]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/18/93171951-14195207-image-a-28_1734287621640.jpg)
