Having won their last 15 premier league matches in a row nobody expected the top dog, Manchester City, to lose 0-2 to Manchester United in last Sunday’s Manchester derby. With an early goal in the second minute and another one right after half-time, United managed to keep a clean sheet against City. Let’s take a look at the stats of the match.

In terms of both passing and possession, City clearly outclassed United. This can be seen back in the statistics in the image below. This could also be partially attributed to United’s early goal, allowing them to play more defensively and focusing more on counterplay, but the difference is so big between the two teams that it cant only be attributed to a different playstyle.

This difference can be seen back in the average position of the two squads as well. Where United’s average positions are very much retreated to their own half, City’s positions were on average on United’s half.

If we look at the goal attempts, we can see a clear difference between the two teams. City has been consistently on the offensive and created a ton of chances with 22 shots from all over. This is a massive difference between United’s 7 shots. However, both teams only made 5 shots on target.

City played hard and fast, but in the end unexpectedly could not sink those decisive shots, while United found the right moment to strike and made good on their promises. If you look at the stats objectively, United got lucky. But they have a history of beating the top dog at their own game.

Maybe part of the strength of United lies in a good underdog story.  

And who doesn’t love an underdog story.