Man United have somewhat shockingly beaten Man City in the Premier League on Sunday but sadly for many, this does not really affect the outcome of the league table – in the long run.
United won the match 2-0 thanks to goals from Fernandes and Luke Shaw and these three points mean Solskjaer’s men are now 11 points behind league leaders Man City.
The win also helps Man United further cement their second spot on the table and according to Gary Neville, this 2-0 win will help his former side in a really positive way for the remainder of the season.
“We know they’re not quite ready yet [to win the title] and that’s proven over the last couple of months but finish the season well,” the Sky Sports pundit said on the Gary Neville Podcast.
“I’ve talked today about finishing a poor second or a good second. A poor second is whereby it fades out towards the end of the season and becomes a bit of a poor league, City win it easily, and you end up 20 points off and you’re nowhere near still.
“Whereas actually if you can go and get within seven or eight points of City it will count for something. When Liverpool were chasing City down over that two or three, four years, they were getting closer every single year.
“These 10 games Man Utd have left are really important. They’ve got to finish a good second. They could be caught by Leicester and other teams but I do think they’re the second-best team in the country this season.
“If they’re not to finish second it would be a real problem but if they are going to finish second be a good second, not a poor second.
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“They need to think about how they catch this Man City team in the long term. Winning today will make them feel good tonight and City will feel bad about it but at the end of the season it will be Man City lifting the trophy and those Man Utd players and the manager have to work out how they get onto that podium because that’s the only thing that matters.
“There were many times during a season where we lost games against our rivals but at the end we were holding the trophy up and nobody remembered the games we lost in, they just remembered who won the trophy.
“Short term gain for Man Utd, and a good moment, and a surprising moment from where they’ve been this week in their performances. For City, they have to pick themselves up.”
This win will not help Man United chase down City over the next few months but it will give undoubtedly give them them a great confidence booster ahead of their Europa League game vs AC Milan. Also, not many people expected City to go down on Sunday but their local rivals have now managed to end their unbeaten run so Guardiola now has something more to think about.
