Erik ten Hag admitted Manchester United were taken to school by Manchester City when they were beaten in October, but insisted lessons were learned in a tumultuous Old Trafford on Saturday lunchtime.
Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham have all been beaten here by United this season, but victory over Premier League champions City, and the way it was achieved, is by far the most powerful statement of Ten Hag’s tenure.
Manchester City will believe this derby turned on a controversial decision that Marcus Rashford did not interfere with play when Bruno Fernandes equalized 12 minutes from time.
In the chaotic few minutes that followed, Rashford went for a winner to give United a 2-1 victory.
The celebrations that followed at the final whistle carried the belief that this giant club, which had gone so far astray, could well find itself under Ten Hag.
United have now lost just one of 19 games since that 6-3 humiliation at the Etihad Stadium, lending weight to Ten Hag’s belief that harrowing experience would be used as a force for good.
The conclusion of this derby may have been highly controversial, and there must have been sympathy for City’s complaints, but United’s performance, character and unity justified the growing optimism around Old Trafford which replaced the despair of the first days of the season when they lost at home. at Brighton and were later humiliated at Brentford.
Casemiro, in the words of Ten Hag, has put cement between the bricks since arriving from Real Madrid, but so many other factors come together as United are now only a point behind City – a situation who would have laughed anyone suggesting it out of town a few months ago.
At the heart of it all is the tactically shrewd and disciplinary Ten Hag, who is stamping an even stronger imprint on Manchester United with each passing week, looking more at home and fit for the job than many who came before him in these last years.
Ten Hag restored belief, instilled smart game management and also clarified who was in charge when Cristiano Ronaldo was kicked off the premises following his subordination.
Even in form, Rashford didn’t escape when he was dropped at Wolverhampton Wanderers after being late for a meeting.
Is there a greater beneficiary of Ten Hag’s influence than Rashford?
The winning goal means Rashford has scored in each of his last seven games in all competitions, eight in total, and has been on target in each of his last nine appearances at Old Trafford, the first United player to do so since Teddy Sheringham at the end of 2000.
Rashford’s joy was in stark contrast to City’s goalscoring machine Erling Haaland, who had a rare fruitless day as he touched the ball just 19 times, with just five inside the United box.
It’s far too early to get carried away talking about titles and measuring the gaps with Manchester City, who have dominated not just United but just about everyone in the country in recent years.
What can be said without contradiction is that United are finally getting back in the right direction. You can see it on the pitch and witness it in the stands at Old Trafford, who were in an ecstatic mood at the final whistle.
Ten Hag still has a lot of work to do after the barren years of underperformance, but having United third in the Premier League and right on the heels of City is a result anyone with any association with the club would have snatched. in August.
He’s also making decisions that work, one of them being the deployment of Luke Shaw in central defence, a move that raised eyebrows considering he was operating in the same areas as Haaland.
Shaw was exceptional, particularly in stoppage time when the petite defender rose to win aerial duels on several occasions in a long header tennis game on the edge of the area.
The arrival of Ten Hag and his measured approach meant this was always going to be a case of managerial evolution rather than revolution – but the best way to prove the chart is on an upward curve is to beat the champions, especially when these champions happen to be Manchester City.
