Phil Foden explained how four Man City players can beat Manchester United with simple tactic

Phil Foden simply but calmly explained the Manchester City tactic that left United flummoxed in November's Manchester derby.

City were 2-0 winners in that game at Old Trafford, but it could have been more for Pep Guardiola and his side as they humbled Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and exposed the Norwegian from a tactical perspective. An Eric Bailly own goal and a strike from Bernardo Silva before the break put United right on the back foot.

They could never recover and Foden, who was Man Of The Match for many onlookers that day, talked through the Guardiola tactic to Sky Sports — to push back United full-backs Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw. "We had the game of our lives today, everything went right," he said after the game.

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"We had lots of possession, lots of chances. We dominated from start to finish which is really good. [The key] was the possession, in the right times, when to hurt them, space in behind.

"Me and Gabby [Jesus] got told to press the fullbacks, it's difficult when they play five at the back. We had Kev [De Bruyne] and Bernardo [Silva] pressing too and it worked.

"We knew we could exploit the space in behind, we picked the right times to do it. They found me a few times in behind, on another day I could have finished my chance."

Ralf Rangnick will hope to have an answer to City's tactics on Sunday, as he takes charge of his first Manchester derby as United interim boss. The German replaced Solskjaer in December, with the Norwegian managing just one more game — a woeful 4-1 defeat at Watford — after the derby before receiving his marching orders.

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