MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City was booed by its own fans and coach Pep Guardiola was heckled by Manchester United fans with chants of “You’ll be sacked tomorrow morning” after Amad Diallo’s late winner sealed United’s 2-1 derby win.

Man City have now lost eight of their last 11 games in all competitions – their worst run since 2003 – and are now seeing their title hopes dwindle with each defeat. According to ESPN Research, this run has meant more defeats than City had in their previous 106 games combined.

Josko Gvardiol’s header in the first half appeared to give City victory, while United missed numerous chances to equalize in the second half. But a foul by Matheus Nunes on Amad in the 86th minute led to a penalty, which Brunoe Fernandes canceled out before Amad scored the winner two minutes later.

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The defeat against Man City deepens the crisis for Guardiola

Manchester City are now past the crisis after suffering their eighth defeat in 11 games at the Eithad on Sunday, days after suffering their seventh defeat in 10 games with a 2-0 defeat to Juventus in the Champions League midweek.

City were desperate for a win to get their season back on track and Gvardiol’s first-half goal gave hope they would end their horror run. But City were weak – lacking the attacking verve and quality of Guardiola’s side that won four Premier League titles in a row last season, and they allowed United to get back into the game and claim an incredible victory .

The city’s problems are clear. They lack pace in key areas of the team and the key pieces of their great teams are fading quickly. Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gündogan and Bernardo Silva simply cannot cope with the intensity of games at the highest level and City have lost the fear factor that helped them win so many titles.

So what’s next? Guardiola has said he is not going anywhere, having only signed a new two-year contract last month. But how long can this continue before even Guardiola’s position is threatened? – Mark Ogden

Man United’s progress continues with another comeback

Man United coach Ruben Amorim praised his players’ fight and spirit after they came from behind to beat FC Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday, and the same qualities were on display against City too.

It was by no means a perfect performance. But just like in the Czech Republic, United found a way to win.

For much of the 90 minutes, United were on the verge of their third consecutive Premier League defeat for the first time since 2015. Amorim was also on the verge of losing a third consecutive top-flight game for the first time in his coaching career. Until Fernandes converted a late penalty and Amad scored a dramatic late winner.

Amorim is not the type to get carried away by an outcome. After the 4-0 win over Everton he was very measured in his assessment and far too balanced to believe that all his problems could be solved by a win at the Etihad Stadium. But if nothing else, it gives United a foundation to build on.

United face a difficult run of games over Christmas and New Year with games against Tottenham, Newcastle, Liverpool and Arsenal. Old Trafford’s rebuild still has a long way to go, but the win at City is a big statement. – Rob Dawson

Haaland’s goal drought makes matters worse

Manchester City have growing problems, but few are as big as striker Erling Haaland’s loss of form in front of goal. The Norway international remained anonymous against United and was taken out of the game by Harry Maguire, who was outstanding for Ruben Amorim’s side.

Haaland has only scored six league goals since the end of August – and that record is even worse when you consider that he has only scored three goals in his last 11 league games.

When he doesn’t score, Haaland offers little to City and their opponents and they have now found that they can weaken Guardiola’s team by nullifying Haaland.

This is now the biggest test of Haaland’s career. He has to show that he can do more than just score goals when the team is flying. –Ogden

Amorim’s big bets are paying off for United

Amorim made two big decisions by leaving strikers Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho out of his matchday squad, and his gamble paid off handsomely as Diallo made a game-winning contribution in their absence.

Whenever a manager drops a major player – in this case two – he absolutely needs the winning team to validate the decision and make it clear to those left out that they are not indispensable. And although United needed two late goals to win the derby, it was Amad who made the difference, winning a penalty taken by Fernandes and scoring the stunning winner two minutes later.

Admitting before the game that both Rashford and Garnacho had trained well on Sunday morning and that his decision was not based solely on the pitch, Amorim made it clear that Rashford and Garnacho were not left out simply based on their recent performances.

While neither player has come close to their level in recent weeks, they have still scored 15 goals in all competitions this season, with Garnacho being the team’s top scorer with eight goals. Amorim left a huge hole in his team by choosing to leave out both Rashford and Garnacho as none of his other strikers have scored the same number of goals.

Amorim, who only joined from Sporting CP last month, is still early in his career at United and needs to establish himself quickly at the club. But with Amad making such a big contribution, Amorim was the clear winner after his selection game.

According to ESPN Research, Amorim is the first Man United manager since Alex Ferguson in 1987 to win his first Manchester derby. –Ogden

The serious injury is a setback for Man United

Mason Mount looked devastated when he was sent off after just 14 minutes, and you can understand why – injuries have been a problem throughout his time at United. Almost 18 months after his move from Chelsea, he has only managed to complete 90 minutes in a game once – in the 3-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle in November 2023.

Amorim has spoken of his admiration for Mount, but that doesn’t matter if you’re never available. Amorim needs players he can rely on week after week. Mount – and Luke Shaw, for that matter – have always struggled to achieve this. Mount will be all the more disappointed to have picked up another problem given how well he looked in Thursday’s win over FC Viktoria Plzen.

Amorim’s second-half substitutions – including Mount and Rasmus Hojlund – helped change the game and a night that looked like it would turn into a Europa League embarrassment ended in a hard-fought victory.

As Mount left the Etihad Stadium, he was comforted by Fernandes and Lisandro Martínez. Even Phil Foden popped in to make sure he was OK. Mount can only hope he doesn’t face another long layoff while there are places up for grabs in Amorim’s new-look United team. –Dawson

A roller coaster ride for Gvardiol

If he hasn’t already, Gvardiol will now know how good margins can be in the Premier League.

For most of the derby it looked like he would be the hero after giving City the lead with a first-half header. Then, in stoppage time, he lost Amad’s run and missed the chance to clear his deflected shot off the line, and a game City had seemingly won ended in painful defeat.

It was a rollercoaster afternoon for Gvardiol, which came at a time when he was already facing a lot of criticism. The 22-year-old was accused of conceding goals against Tottenham and Feyenoord. Guardiola offered his public support after Gvardiol played a central role in the late defeat against Feyenoord, but still felt it necessary to ax him for the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.

With Nathan Aké, Manuel Akanji and John Stones all struggling with injuries and Rico Lewis suspended, Gvardiol was one of three fully fit defenders for the game against United. He was moved from his usual left-back position to central defense and scored City’s opening goal with a well-aimed header from a cross from De Bruyne.

Makeshift left-back Nunes was responsible for United’s equaliser, but it is Gvardiol who does not want to see a repeat of Amad’s winner. It’s been a difficult period for Gvardiol, perhaps the first real testing period since his big move from RB Leipzig in 2023, and he’s back in the spotlight. –Dawson