Manchester derby result: United fall short of miracle comeback as City reach Carabao Cup final

It will be marked as another win for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the Etihad in the record books but not the perfect result and performance that Manchester United required. Manchester City will instead play in their third consecutive Carabao Cup final and face Aston Villa at Wembley in March, despite Nemanja Matic’s first-half strike consigning them to a 1-0 defeat on the night.

Matic – one of United’s more impressive performers during a difficult January – later saw red for a second bookable offence. Solskjaer might wonder whether the spirit of that late comeback in Paris last year would have been more easily rediscovered with a full complement of players on the pitch during the critical closing stages.

Yet at the final whistle, it was hard not to conclude that – despite the narrow 3-2 aggregate scoreline – this two-legged semi-final was decided by City’s brilliance during the first half at Old Trafford three weeks ago, when Pep Guardiola’s side blew their neighbours away, establishing a 3-0 lead that ultimately proved insurmountable and demonstrating the chasm in quality between these two old rivals.

Guardiola may have suggested this competition be scrapped just last week but he has always shown it a rare respect and valued the opportunity to win an early trophy. This iteration of City has its issues but will be heavily fancied to beat Villa and claim the first silverware of the season, even after failing to score at home for the second time this season.

This return leg initially picked up where the first left off. City were ascendant and only David de Gea showed resistance. The United goalkeeper is a long way off his form of two years ago but there are few ‘keepers with sharper reactions in this country. He needed every split-second to deny Sergio Aguero, palming an early header away one-handed, then frustrated Riyad Mahrez with his feet and clawed another Aguero attempt out of the top corner.

City were comfortably on top until suddenly, they weren’t. After 35 minutes, Rodri’s trip of Jesse Lingard was penalised out on the left flank. Bernardo Silva only half-cleared Fred’s free-kick with a glance of his forehead and Matic swung his left boot at the loose ball, connecting cleanly and finding the corner of the near-post. Claudio Bravo has a nasty habit of conceding from the first shot he faces but there was little he could do to stop this one.

Despite still requiring another to force penalties, United stuck to the game plan. It was working, after all, but the risks of such a conservative approach were laid bare when a stray Victor Lindelof back pass almost sent Aguero through one-on-one. De Gea was still smarting after being hurt in a tussle with Nicolas Otamendi, yet quickly rushed off his line to intercept, play the ball off Aguero and win a goal kick.

It was not the only hairy moment that United would get away with. After enjoying an unusual amount of possession deep in City territory at the start of the second half, the out-of-sorts Lingard lost the ball. Raheem Sterling broke at pace, acres clear of a retreating United defence. He rounded a stranded De Gea to leave the goalmouth gaping before him, but hesitated to shoot as United regrouped and eventually cleared the crossbar.

Harry Maguire then came close to gifting City passage to Wembley with a misplaced pass inside his own six-yard box, with Aguero intercepting. City had three-on-three including De Gea inside the United penalty area, but when the ball broke for David Silva, he took inspiration from Sterling and dallied long enough for Maguire to recover, clear and atone for his error. And gradually, the sense that this was not City’s night grew.

United’s chances of a famous turnaround would have been helped considerably had their goalscorer not earned a second yellow. Matic was first cautioned for a needless clip of Mahrez’s ankles. There was not much more sense in his bodycheck of Ilkay Gundogan – the type of tactical foul that Guardiola’s side are so often accused of – and despite brief complaints, he had to walk. And with him went any scant hope of the miracle Solskjaer hoped for. United win but the gulf would be too wide to bridge.