The derby stat that should embarrass Manchester United players

With 15 minutes to go at the Etihad Manchester United's position looked perilous. They were 3-1 down and had been chasing shadows in the second half, but then they've pulled themselves out of equally grave positions here previously.

The comeback from 2-0 down at half-time to deny City a derby-day title success in April 2018 came from an equally improbable position, when Pep Guardiola's side were so dominant in the first 45 minutes they only question looked to be how many they would score.

Instead, United rallied that day and found a response that was as baffling as it was brilliant. So while there looked to be little hope with 15 minutes to go yesterday, there is never no hope in that situation.

It seems that memo didn't reach the players, however. With the game in the balance at half-time they came out for the second half and made a string of simple errors in the first five minutes to set the tone for as wretched a 45 minutes as a Manchester United side has produced in years.

United's xG was a round zero in the second half, by virtue of failing to have a shot, and in the final 15 minutes, when they should have been on the front foot and trying to up the tempo, they contrived to manage just eight per cent possession. Yes, eight per cent.

It's hard to see that stat and then disagree with the assessment of Gary Neville and Roy Keane that this is a group of players who simply gave up on derby day, even when they were only two goals behind. As one Old Trafford regular said on Sunday night, 'you can almost accept them being rubbish (even though we shouldn't be), but the lack of effort in the last half hour was disgusting'.

That the away end was still probably two thirds full at the final whistle and returned the