Jose Mourinho has been here before.
It might have been about four years since he shared a stretch of touchline with Pep Guardiola, but there has always been this eery feeling of sibling claustrophobia all the while.
For Mourinho and Guardiola, it always looks like the case of brothers separated at birth.
Saturday’s Manchester Derby did not look like the fourth game into the new Premier League. One could be forgiven if he thought the clash at Old Trafford was the title decider. That’s how crazy the hype and buildup was.
Mourinho and Guardiola refused to fan the flames. Even as they both emerged onto the pitch, they hugged warmly like brothers who had not seen each other in a while.
And then the familiar feeling returned with kick-off.
A team formed in Guardiola’s image passing around a Mourinho team, as if they were training cones. Kevin De Bruyne moved about smoothly with malevolent purpose. David Silva found spaces and twisted and teased. Fernandinho held it together at the back. City were relentlessly fascinating at the home of their rivals.
De Bruyne touched the ball beyond Daley Blind, gave David De Gea the eyes and finished expertly to give his team the lead. Kelechi Iheanacho was at the right place to tap in for 2-0. City were on their way to a comprehensive win before Claudio Bravo happened. The Chilean, who was making his debut in this high-octane encounter, inexplicably came from a deep free-kick and missed it. Zlatan Ibrahimovic accepted the gift, volleying into an empty net.
There were no goals in the second half. Mourinho took off Jesse Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan and brought on Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera as he sought to turn the game around. Although United regained a bit of control, they lacked the decisiveness and Ibrahimovic was strangely off colour.
After the game, the two managers hugged again and Mourinho trudged off sick in the stomach. He would later blame his own players and referee Mark Clattenburg for the loss.
Sir Alex Ferguson during his time as manager probably would have too. But sitting up there in one of those executive boxes, he saw the death by passing from a better angle and appreciated it.
He has been here before. When United played Guardiola’s Barcelona. Ferguson famously described it as a “passing carousel”.
Reports claim that the Scot sought out Guardiola at Old Trafford after the Saturday’s game and congratulated him. He was that impressed.
Four games into the new season and four wins for City. Next up for them? Bournemouth at the Etihad. Seems the familiar feeling of Guardiola stomping his way to the title is about to overwhelm us in England.
‘Ifreke Inyang tweets via @Ifreke
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