Manchester United pulled within one late in the first half when Claudio Bravo misjudged a set piece and allowed Zlatan Ibrahimovic to score in his Manchester Derby debut.
The Spanish keeper, who was brought in to fit Pep Guardiola’s system a little better, made a mess of a set piece and allowed United an avenue back into the game. Wayne Rooney lobbed a free kick into the box and Bravo made a play for the ball but couldn’t quite hang on to it. The ball fell to the one man in the box City wouldn’t want it to fall to, and Ibrahimovic had a wide open net to shoot at.
Credit still has to go to Ibrahimovic, despite the gaping net to shoot at, because the goal still required an acrobatic finish. The Swede made no mistake and put plenty of pace on the ball. United nearly leveled the score just before halftime, when Bravo again had trouble with the ball. John Stones was in the right place this time, however, to keep his side in the lead.
