ETIHAD STADIUM, MANCHESTER — Josko Gvardiol headed Manchester City into a halftime lead against Manchester United in a derby that did little to quicken the pulse.

Both teams were pensive during the opening exchanges, with United having lost each of their past two Premier League matches under new boss Ruben Amorim, while Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions have endured a prolonged slump of one win in 10 matches across all competitions.

In a half largely devoid of quality, it was fitting that City’s goal almost came about by accident.

Kevin De Bruyne took underhit a short corner to Bernardo Silva, whose return pass turned a crossing opportunity into more of a 50-50 tackle with Amad Diallo. De Bruyne got there first and the ball spun up invitingly off the United winger for Croatia defender Gvardiol to nod home his fourth goal of the season.

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Man City vs. Man United score

Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Referee: Anthony Taylor

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Lineups:

Manchester City (3-2-4-1, right to left): 31. Ederson (GK) — 2. Kyle Walker, 3. Ruben Dias, 24. Josko Gvardiol — 19. Ilkay Gundogan, 27. Matheus Nunes — 20. Bernardo Silva, 17. Kevin De Bruyne (8. Mateo Kovacic), 47. Phil Foden, 11. Jeremy Doku — 9. Erling Haaland

Manchester United (3-4-3, right to left): 24. Andre Onana (GK) — 5. Harry Maguire, 4. Matthijs de Ligt (15. Leny Yoro), 6. Lisandro Martinez — 3. Noussair Mazraoui (21. Antony), 25. Manuel Ugarte, 8. Bruno Fernandes, 20. Diogo Dalot — 16. Amad Diallo, 9. Rasmus Hojlund (11. Joshua Zirkzee), 7. Mason Mount (37. Kobbie Mainoo)

MORE: Why Man City might actually be worse than Man United right now

Man City vs. Man United live updates, highlights, and commentary

 Josko Gvardiol headed Manchester City into a halftime lead against Manchester United in a derby that did little to quicken the pulse.

Both teams were pensive during the opening exchanges, with United having lost each of their past two Premier League matches under new boss Ruben Amorim, while Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions have endured a prolonged slump of one win in 10 matches across all competitions.

In a half largely devoid of quality, it was fitting that City’s goal almost came about by accident.

Kevin De Bruyne took underhit a short corner to Bernardo Silva, whose return pass turned a crossing opportunity into more of a 50-50 tackle with Amad Diallo. De Bruyne got there first and the ball spun up invitingly off the United winger for Croatia defender Gvardiol to nod home his fourth goal of the season.

85 mins: Grealish brings City forward, United get themselves in a mess and concede a corner. John Stones will be with us shortly.

84 mins: Mainoo times his run to get up and meet Martinez’s cross. The England midfielder’s header is way over.

81 mins: Nice feet from Antony, a lovely first involvement, he slips Amad into the box towards the byline. He can’t get an effective shot off, then Fernandes takes a heavy touch to hand City a goal kick.

78 mins: Corner cleared as far as Foden, who boots over. Triple change for United: Hojlund, Mazraoui and De Ligt off, with Zirkzee, Antony and Yoro on in what look like straight swaps.

76 mins: Foden into the United box down the left. Maguire heads clear. The ball breaks to Haaland via Kovacic and his snapshot is deflected behind. Grealish coming on for Doku before the corner is taken.

74 mins: Ohhh it should be 1-1! Fernandes gets through the City offside trap, dinks one past Ederson… just wide!

70 mins: Doku still trying to make things happen. He whips one across goal but Haaland can’t contort himself to get on the end of it. A message on the stadium screen suggests the Dias-Hojlund incident was checked for a penalty but the challenge was deemed “normal contact”.

69 mins: United break down the right. The cross has a bit too much on it for Dalot, whose cutback for Fernandes meets with their compatriot Silva.

68 mins: City now appealing as Foden goes down. Nothing doing and De Bruyne batters one from the edge of the box. That’s his last act, with Mateo Kovacic coming on.

65 mins: Martinez aims a teasing ball in behind Dias, who gets himself between the ball and Hojlund. The United striker wants a penalty but that’s a bold shout.

62 mins: Excellent save from Ederson! Fernandes curls in a lovely ball from a nice angle on the left. Amad’s glancing header is well-judged and Ederson turns around the post.

60 mins: An hour on the clock in the derby. City still lead 1-0. Their fans are trying to rouse what is still a nervous, uncertain performance.

55 mins: Fernandes and De Bruyne, the two premier playmakers on display, seem to be trying to out-do each other in terms of rank nonsense. This time it’s Bruno wasting a good crossing position by blootering one out for a goal kick.

53 mins: Fernandes makes a has of a quick free-kick in his own half and Doku gets chance to run at De Ligt, who does not seem at all comfortable with this arrangement. He sticks to his task and concedes a corner. It’s taken short, De Bruyne blasts another awful cross at Fernandes. It’s amazing to think the only goal in this game came form a City corner.

50 mins: Dreadful giveaway by Doku. City still completely lacking conviction on the ball. Nunes, who has stuck to left-back duties impressively, and Gvardiol hare back to extinguish the danger.

47 mins: Fernandes fizzes a lovely ball into Hojlund from the left. Again the striker produces some good hold-up play. Now some quicksilver feet from Mainoo but again a United attack breaks down because someone, Mazraoui in this instance, strays offside. 

Kickoff: 2nd Half

We’re back. No changes in personnel. Hopefully an uptick in the general standard of play.

Halftime

De Bruyne, who has produced an utterly bizarre individual performance, tries a cross to the edge of the box that is nowhere near Silva and Ugarte deals with it. Like a lot of the half that preceded it, that was rubbish. United probably structurally the better team. City have all the confidence you’d expect for a team with one win in 10, but they lead through Gvardiol’s header.

45 mins+4: Almost 2-0! Foden’s shot takes a horrible, squirming deflection off Maguire and goes just wide. De Bruyne over the corner. Short to Doku, he gets it back and Martinez makes an absolute rocks for brains foul.

45 mins+2: Steady on, Andre! De Bruyne leathers a free-kick out of play. He should stick to tackling it into the box. United try to play out from the goal kick and Onana dices with having Haaland send him and the ball into his net in a heap.

45 mins+1: Up goes the board. There’ll be four more minutes of this dross cagey fayre before we can all grab some refreshments. 

41 mins: Both the silly boys are booked. Bruno puts in a nice ball, De Ligt gets there first and Ederson scrambles behind for a United corner… which fails to get past De Bruyne at the near post.

39 mins: Anthony Taylor and his video assistants have some caper to sort out. Dias fouled Hojlund. Walker continue the argument, they went head to head and Walker then threw himself on the floor. That’s not going to be a red card. That’s just embarrassing.

37 mins: GOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! Josko Gvardiol!

First blood to City in the derby. It’s a scrappy goal as De Bruyne under-cooks a short corner. His attempt to cross from Silva’s return pass turns into a 50-50 tackle with Amad. The ball spins up invitingly and Gvardiol has a fairly simply headed finish.

Available in the US

JOSKO GVARDIOL PUTS MAN CITY AHEAD IN THE DERBY. 😤

📺 USA Network | #MCIMUN pic.twitter.com/Y4f5VmQHBS

— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) December 15, 2024

Available in the UK

Manchester City take the lead in the derby through Joško Gvardiol! 💥 pic.twitter.com/wrdD20OITy

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 15, 2024

36 mins: Doku cuts inside and has an attempt blocked behind. Hojlund and Haaland engaging in some nonsense again…

35 mins: United have shaded this so far. Amad has a shot blocked. Now City look to break and Fernandes hacks down his compatriot Silva. he’s done very well to avoid a booking.

32 mins: Gvardiol gives the ball away carelessly in the Untied half and it’s one of those transitions City are desperately looking to avoid. United can’t make it count, though and the attack ends with an Ugarte shot that had as much chance of troubling the Asda across the road as it did Ederson’s goal.

31 mins: Not going to lie, this is a tough watch. 

26 mins: Oh, Amad should really be holding his run better there. The United winger is offside, doesn’t know it and misses the one-on-one anyway. Not the best.

23 mins: Foden again, with a shot deflected behind this time. He goes to take the corner. Hojlund is doing a lot of holding on Haaland. One to keep an eye on. Dias gets up at the near post ahead of Maguire but that’s basically a clearance.

21 mins: City switch the angle of the attack though. Again it comes to Doku down the left. Martinez nudges Haaland away from the cross before Foden controls on his chest and sends a volley wide from about 25 yards. That wasn’t too far away and I’m not sure Onana was getting there.

21 – Phil Foden’s shot in the 21st minute was the first attempt in this match, the longest wait on record (since 2006-07) for a first shot in a Premier League Manchester derby. Cagey. #MCIMUN

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 15, 2024

20 mins: Doku pops up in centrally and Maguire makes a vital block as he looks for Haaland. Now United have the ball in City territory. They can’t make it count but do at least stop a quick break.

19 mins: Doku vs. Mazraoui pt. whatever we’re up to. A win for the defender on this occasion. 

17 mins: City’s press hasn’t had much teeth but United cough up the ball in their own half and Doku and Haaland almost make them pay.

15 mins: Doku gets a drag-back out of his box of tricks to nutmeg Mazraoui. This is instantly bad news for Gvardiol, who gets booted by the frustrated Morocco defender. From the free-kick, Doku scoots down the left ut nothing comes from the cross.

13 mins: United are going to be forced into an early change by the looks of things. Mount has sat down on the turf and is now walking off. That’s awful, he’s had such wretched luck. Kobbie Mainoo is on and Bruno Fernandes will join the front three.

11 mins: Amad jinks into the area, Gvardiol closes the door before everyone’s favourite, the late offside flag appears. A moment of unity for all fans on this day of enmity. 

10 mins: A big switch to Dalot is another ploy we’ve already seen a few times. He sizes up Walker before lumping a cross out for a goal kick.

9 mins: Good, strong hold-up play from Hojlund. Amad tries to pick out Fernandes’ run through the middle but Walker intercepts. That might have just been a pretty good glance at the United blueprint here.

7 mins: Calm United possession in the City half before they’re forced back to Onana. Understandably quite pensive stuff from both teams so far.

6 mins: That looked like a dragged pass from De Ligt but it gets United through the midfield. Dalot crosses and Ederson gathers.

5 mins: Doku in the thick of some good old-fashioned derby 50-50. The home crowd roar City forward and Martinez heads De Bruyne’s cross behind. United deal with he corner unfussily.

3 mins: If the opening exchanges are anything to go by, Doku and Mazraoui are going to become very well acquainted. The City winger things he has the beating of his man but the linesman rules he ran out of pitch.

Kickoff: 1st Half

Local lad Phil Foden gets the 195th Manchester derby underway.

2 mins before kickoff: City fans unveil a huge banner in support and recognition of manager Pep Guardiola, who then shares a warm embrace with Ruben Amorim and we’re almost ready to go. Which Manchester team is worse right now? We’re about to find out…

pic.twitter.com/th05KDnqaN

— Dom Farrell (@DomFarrell1986) December 15, 2024

6 mins before kickoff: City have gone old-school here and cut the stadium PA, leaving the supporters to provide the pre-match soundtrack. Oh, hang on, we’ve got the lights off now. Jazzy.

20 mins before kickoff: In his own interview with Sky, Pep Guardiola has explained Matheus Nunes will fill in as an emergency left-back. Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford would probably have fancied a dart at him.

50 mins before kickoff: United boss Ruben Amorim has been speaking to Sky Sports about the decision to omit Rashford and Garnacho from the matchday squad. No injury or disciplinary issues to speak of, he simply hasn’t picked them. Big call.

Selection. We try to evaluate everything: training, performance, game performance, engagement with the team-mates, pushing the team-mates up. Everything is on the line when we analyse and try to choose the players, so that is my selection. Simple.

I don’t want to send a message. It’s simply an evaluation, and they know it. The players are really, really smart. Everybody understands my decision. I have to choose. It’s just simple selection.

The context is difficult. We have to win games and we have a difficult situation. I pay attention to everything, the way you eat, the way you put on your clothes to go the game. Everything. I make my evaluation and then I have to decide. I have a lot of players to choose.

1 hr 10 mins before kickoff: The United side tallies with the rumoured XI that broke yesterday evening. It’s quite a circumspect 3-4-3 on paper, with Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot set to line up as the wingbacks. Neither Marcus Rashford nor Alejandro Garnacho are in Ruben Amorim’s matchday squad which is a cruel blow to his team’s goal threat against what has been a flimsy City defence of late.

🚨 TEAM NEWS 🚨

In the red corner… 👊#MUFC || #MCIMUN

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 15, 2024

1 hr 15 mins before kickoff: The teams are in but we’ll have to wait to see how City shape up on the field. Walker, Dias and Gvardiol are the three fully fully fit senior defenders, although John Stones is a surprise inclusion on the bench alongside former West Ham youngster Divin Mubama . There are then six midfielders, one of whom will have to do a left-back impression at some stage, and Erling Haaland. Bernardo Silva filled in there briefly during City’s 2022/23 treble-winning season, while Guardiola mentioned playing Matheus Nunes there in his press conference. I thought that was a joke. It might not have been.

In the blue corner for #MCIMNU 🩵

XI | Ederson, Walker (C), Dias, Gvardiol, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Nunes, Foden, Doku, Haaland

SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Stones, Kovacic, Grealish, Savinho, Simpson-Pusey, Mubama, O’Reilly, McAtee#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/2VP4OICPCf

— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 15, 2024

1 hr 35 mins before kickoff: Confirmed team news will be with us in about 20 minutes. What Pep Guardiola decides to do with his defence is probably the main source of intrigue. Manuel Akanji looks set to remain sidelined alongside John Stones and Nathan Ake, Rico Lewis is suspended and Kyle Walker is enduring an implausibly wretched run of personal form. There could be a start for youth-team gradual Jahmai Simpson-Pusey at centre-back, or Guardiola could opt to pair Josko Gvardiol with Ruben Dias in the heart of defence and get creative with his interpretation of the left-back position.

2 hours before kickoff: The 195th Manchester derby takes place today, and it’s been quite some time since both teams entered the game in disarray. Who comes out on top?

Man City vs. Man United kick off time

Man City vs. Man United lineups, team news

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United’s injury picture was finally looking largely positive, although Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho are key absences from the matchday squad.

Amorim confirmed that Jonny Evans is back in full training, having been sidelined since his first game in charge against Ipswich Town last month. 

Rasmus Hojlund leads the line after scoring twice off the bench against Viktoria Plzen this week, while Mason Mount‘s decent cameo has earned him a start as one of the support attackers

Man United lineup (3-4-3, right to left): Onana (GK) — Maguire, De Ligt, Martinez — Mazraoui, Ugarte, Fernandes, Dalot — Amad, Hojlund, Mount

Man United subs: Bayindir (GK), Lindelof, Zirkzee, Malacia, Eriksen, Yoro, Casemiro, Antony, Mainoo

Man City vs. Man United live stream, TV channel