Inside Rasmus Hojlund’s disasterclass against Man City as Man Utd ace fails to manage a single touch in penalty area
RASMUS Hojlund’s performance in the boring Manchester derby showed why Ruben Amorim is going after a new striker in the summer.
The Dane struggled to lead the line against Pep Guardiola‘s side, whose own lack of intent in the 0-0 draw could be punished in the race for a Champions League place.
But Hojlund really struggled to impact the game and barely had any involvement throughout the 71 minutes he was on the pitch.
Indeed, the stats really reflect just how tough he found it at a sunny Old Trafford.
The 22-year-old had just 15 touches and completed just seven of his nine attempted passes – a 78 per cent accuracy.
The down-trodden striker also failed to register a single touch in the City’s box.
Hojlund also had ZERO shots at Ederson‘s goal.
He lost the ball four times before being replaced by Joshua Zirkzee with 19 minutes left of normal time.
Zirkzee – who had 11 touches in the final embers – was a more of handful for the City back line and went close to an elusive opener when he tested Ederson from Patrick Dorgu‘s cross.
But Hojlund perhaps showed why he has to be replaced up front in the summer.
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Sunday’s draw came days after centre-back Harry Maguire was launched up front to find a winner against Nottingham Forest.
And although Maguire couldn’t find a leveller, he accumulated more xG in added time than Hojlund had in his last 15 appearances prior.
The former Atalanta man, signed for £72m in 2023, has just eight goals this term – including only three in the Premier League.
The Red Devils are set to battle Arsenal for Amorim’s former Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres.
United and City have been below their usual standards this season and the goalless draw at Old Trafford displayed that.
Amorim fielded seven defensive players and relied heavily on Bruno Fernandes for the occasional promising pass.
The Portuguese manager said: “Both teams aren’t fighting for the title – that changed the game.
“You can make a funny game but that feeling of not losing a point and winning every game at home is not here.”
But Gary Neville slammed that sentiment and said the derby was a bad advert for the Prem.
Neville said: “The best City and Man United teams would be very disappointed with the way they’ve approached the end of that game.
“It looks like it’s Sunday afternoon and they’re going to go for a roast dinner together now.
“They’re micromanaged to an inch of their lives, so robotic and it’s symptomatic of a lot of games that we’re watching nowadays.”
Roy Keane also ripped into all the hugging and chatting at full-time.
Amorim has since responded: “I understand that Gary is critical about everything so I understand that part.
“Then I understand that we are in the moment that we are doing the worst season in history.
“So we are not in the best moments to give the best spectacle to every fan.”
But the fans were up for it, with many chanting in reference to the 130 charges City face for alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules.
And Guardiola condemned the home fans for chants about Phil Foden’s mum.
Sections of Old Trafford sang: “Phil Foden, your mum is a s**g.”
The Red Devils face Lyon in the Europa League quarter-finals, with the first leg in France coming up on Thursday.
Meanwhile, City sit fifth, still a point behind Chelsea after the Blues played out a 0-0 draw of their own against Brentford.
Newcastle can still overtake them if they beat struggling Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Monday night.