“I don’t want him in my team” Sir Jim Ratcliffe has instructed Erig Ten Hag to get rid of Man U star after gifting City the Community shield

For Manchester United, Alejandro Garnacho was starting on the bench for the first time since October at Wembley. Next week against Fulham, he will not be present.

It just so happens that Erik ten Hag last listed Garnacho as a replacement versus City. Eleven weeks after the FA Cup final, Garnacho showed the champions once more how powerful he can be.

Starting as he finished last season was Garnacho, the opening scorer at Wembley. There is not a proven striker on the team, but Ten Hag has plenty of choices up front, so Garnacho should be back in the starting lineup when the team plays Fulham on Friday.

His tap-in from last term was about as far distant as his second derby goal. Given that Garnacho received the ball on his right wing, which is supposedly his weaker position, his single performance was all the more impressive. When he took advantage of City’s error earlier this year, he was playing there.

The outcome of the game was not determined in the allotted 90 minutes, in contrast to May. In the 89th minute, Bernardo Silva caught Facundo Pellistri off guard to equalize, continuing United’s trend of scoring goals in the dying minutes. Garnacho had to step up once more to place the ball in the opposing corner during the penalty shootout.

“The best team in the nation and all the globe” was how the City banners marketed themselves. They did not win the Community Shield for a third consecutive year in 2023, thus their clean sweep of accolades was not quite satisfactory. In 2024, they managed to regain possession of it at last.

Compared to the last derby at Wembley, United had a weaker starting lineup. Though there will soon be additional additions at Carrington in the shape of Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, the former Ajax team, Joshua Zirkzee was an unused replacement.

During the US trip, seven United starters were present. Dynamic players from across the pond, Mason Mount and Marcus Rashford, were quiet on this side of the Atlantic.

Bruno Fernandes filled in as the false nine, and Mount was able to play as the No. 10. Reminding Ten Hag that he is the creator of United’s plays, Fernandes scored a fantastic goal that was not on goal as he went offside to get the ball.

Rashford missed two easy opportunities. The second one, which came from Garnacho’s timely cross, was so clear that Ruud van Nistelrooy walked onto the touchline and gave him a few encouraging applauses.

The seats in the hospitality area on each side of the dugout are empty, indicating that this was an event unmatched by the conclusion of the previous season. When Fernandes saw he had no teammates to support him, he stopped pressuring Ederson. Until the 68th minute, there was no reservation.

The captain of United continued to speak freely, giving Kobbie Mainoo exclusive information. Mount made contact with Amad following a hesitant beginning. Amad could not hide his annoyance at teammates when they passed diagonal passes to him.

Ten Hag applauded Amad for tricking Josko Gvardiol when he eventually got the ball. He fashioned an even better opportunity moments later with a deft one-two with Casemiro, but he was unselfish when he needed to be selfish. The winger needed a few moments to free himself from the side netting after Amad’s attempted ball to Mount went wrong.

Casemiro’s chances of playing the national anthem at the same stadium where he was benched in May would have been slim. In his debut season at United, the 32-year-old was an offensive asset; now days, he is a more potent attacker than a defensive midfielder. He gave Amad and Rashford wonderful opportunities.

Harry Amass appeared to be the most likely player to start for United even as a 17-year-old without a professional match. As the lone traveling outfield player left out of the matchday team, he was forced to settle for a seat in the spectators instead. Amass was allowed to warm up with the designated replacements in order to make the most of his second matchday at the national stadium.

That was very nonsensical. There was not a single defender on United’s bench, and five had already gone down with injuries. Pellistri, who was surplus to requirements when loaned to Granada in January, did not check in at Carrington until Monday, when he was given a replacement seat.

Pellistri, who filled in at right back, was still among the first replacements to appear. Bernardo’s leveller looked like a fish out of water.