Manchester City 0-1 Manchester United

I wasn't as pessimistic ahead of this game as has usually been the case this season. Probably because City have been no great shakes either. But fuck me, they really are poor. It's hard to know what to make of the United performance, because City were so bad. Aguerro apart, they were absolutely nothing. One thing is for certain Guariola aint turning them into world beaters any time soon, we're really going to see how good he is, I feel.
All that said, yesterday was one of those days where we should just be glad for small mercies. It really was one of those days, almost as if the last three years never happened. Liverpool two up and end up conceding a late goal to get beat 3-2 to kill any charge for the top four they might have entertained. And we go to City, outplay them, take the three points and kill of any small hopes they may have had for the title. And to cap it off the solitary goal was an 18 year old Mancunian amd what a fine goal it was. That front three of Martial, Rashford and Lingard were very exciting. They were all good, how refreshing to see pace and energy in the team at last.
Other stand outs for me were Blind, who had as good a game as I have seen him have for the club. I still don't see him as a long term solution at centre back, but he did the job yesterday alright. I thought he was better than Smalling, even though Smalling was awarded the man of the match award. Carrick had an excellent game, Schneiderlin gave an improved performance and our team looked far more effective with Fellaini out of the picture.
It was a pity Van Gaal tried his best to fuck things up with his usual unfathomable use of substitutions, taking both full backs off and then putting Schweinsteiger into the number ten role, what the fuck was that all about?
I'm not going to get carried away, how the fuck could you anyway with all the false dawwns we suffered under the Dutch loon, but yesterday was very, very enjoyable!

Manchester United 1-0 Watford

What a really bonkers season this is turning out to be, all the teams above us dropped points, though Leicester's seemingly disappointing draw now seems like a decent result. Meanwhile United win a game with a goal during the final 10 minutes, how often have we done that under Van Gaal, that we could have easily lost 2 or 3 nil.
I have no Idea why Carrick was missing, but it was a big call to start with Fosu-Mensah at centre back alongside fellow Dutchman Blind. He was far from perfect, how could you expect him to be, as he was up against two strong pacy forwards, but overall I think he had a decent game. Blind, alongside him, had an inconsistent game, but at least he showed some leadership, he didn't hide and I liked that. Varela had a reasonable game, I think I would stick with him, rather than bring Valencia straight back.
Some have slated our first half display, it obviously wasn't great, but with the team we had out, how much more could we really expect. We started off reasonably well, but when the chances failed to come, we started to look nervous.
Rashford was living on scraps up front, but he still managed to look the part. During the first half he made a couple of great runs that ended up with his opposite numbers opting to bring him down. I think he is a natural second forward, but he showed that if he has to play wide to get more games and gain more experience he is up to it as he caused them even more problems when switched with Martial halfway through the second half. It was between Rashford and Schneiderlin for the man of the Match for this red.
I think it went unnoticed by most, but I thought that was easily Schneiderlin's best game for the club. He was solid, but his use of the ball was far, far better. Maybe I have been to quick to right him off, though he did seem to drop off during the last ten minutes. As my dad said when we discussed the game in the pub, maybe it's a run of consecutive games instead of two or three and then out for a longer spell.
I'm afraid I was far less impressed with Mata and Herrera, Mata hit a great free kick to win the game, but in open play he did not do enough for me. Herrera on the other hand did absolutely nothing. I'm afraid I've started to dub them the powder puff brothers, lightweight, when the going gets tough.
I thought Memphis reverted to type when faced by a big strong pacy full back, he hardly got past him all night. He didn't have a bad game, but I'd be wanting more than that from my creative wide men.
So level with City after their drubbing on Merseyside, who could have dreamt that up three or four weeks back. That game at the boo camp is going to be interesting!