The match was now in the twenty-fifth minute and despite all the effort Manchester City had put toward trying to get that equalizer.
The away team had been the better side so far as they had been trying relentlessly to use any advantage they could get to equalize the scoreline but saying that they were totally dominating the game would be an exaggeration.
The Red Devils were also doing their own thing to try and find any weakness or leak from City's defense that they could exploit but just like in the previous matches, their defense was quite the tough nut for them to crack.
That counterattack was their best chance to score and they took proper advantage of it.
The defense of both sides was a big problem for them to get past, and because of that, there had been just a few shots in the game.
Manchester United had two shots with just one being on target while Manchester City also had two shots but both of them were off target.
The closest City had come to looking threatening in attack was when Axel played Merino through down the right flank after swiftly getting past Sponet.
The winger could have gotten a clean strike from near the edge of the box but Andriano rushed in from nowhere to try and stop him, and not wanting to lose the ball, he ended up blasting it at the side netting.
United's other shot was just a strike that Paul sent flying over the bar from twenty-five yards out, he was clearly looking for a second goal there.
With the match now in the sixth minute, Manchester City had a throw-in after Arlan sent the ball rolling out in an attempt to dispossess Maxi.
Andrea was standing on the sidelines now with the ball in his hand, and without hesitation, he threw the ball to Axel who was near the halfway line.
The midfielder brought the ball down as quickly as he could, and at that moment, Arlan quickly came rushing toward him.
'He's really fast.'
He quickly took off down the middle with Arlan hot on his trail. He knew there was no way he was going to outrun him but he wasn't planning to.
The youngster came to a sudden with the ball before he could get too close to the box, and with Arlan still trying to pull his breaks, he switched to the right and continued his run.
"Nice movement from Axel."
The youngster was about to run into Sponet when he quickly sent the ball rolling to Merino, but the winger wasn't in a particularly good position.
The left back in the area was right onto him, and in order to avoid losing the ball, he sent it rolling back to Maxi who quickly linked it back to Axel.
"These guys are tougher than I expected," Axel muttered under his breath as soon as he got hold of the ball.
'Unlike Everton, they don't seem to be leaving any spaces, there's barely any leaks in their defense.'
Arlan quickly rushed to the midfielder from behind to dispossess him but he should have thought of keeping his legs closed because all it took to get past him was a little push from Axel's backheel.
The youngster swiftly got past him with a nutmeg and now he got that chance he had been looking for, a chance to try a shot from about twenty-five yards out.
"Is it just me or have those two been on each other's neck since the start of the game?" Tony inquired.
"No, I'm definitely seeing what you're seeing."
Arlan was still right behind him and quickly closing up and then there was Sponet quickly coming in from the right, but just before any of them could get to him, he pulled his right foot back and fired straight toward the goalpost.
"Is he going to try his luck from there? Axel!"
The ball flew straight toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost, he had to place it there because he needed to beat the goalkeeper by all means.
However, the goalkeeper was able to dive toward the ball just in time, and with the tip of his gloves, he was able to send the ball over the bar for a corner kick.
"Oh, what a save from Anderson!"
That shot from Axel had Manchester City fans hanging on the edge of their seats but after that save from Anderson, the home fans were the ones who got off their seats with screams.
"That was a well-placed strike from Axel from a distance like that but Anderson was just equal to it, what a save." Tony articulated.
"Yeah, great save from Anderson but they have a corner kick to deal with now, the second corner kick of the game."
"Well, I knew it wasn't going to be that easy," Axel muttered as he slowly made his way to the box to see if he could help his team do something with this corner kick.
'But I really wish that went in.'
It was strange but anything regarding his assist's ultimate goal had failed to cross his mind since the start of the game, if he was thinking about that, then he wouldn't have tried that shot just now.
I guess at the end day, when facing strong opponents all that really mattered to him was winning the game by any means possible.
Andrea was standing over the ball in the corner spot now with the referee making sure that everything was in place, and as soon as he was sure of that, he blew his whistle.
"There's the whistle, let's see if City can do anything with their first corner of the game."
Andrea wasn't in a rush to take the kick as he observed everyone in the box, and after that, he took a step backward before quickly sending the ball in.
"He whips it in."
He was looking for Tacky in there, and even though the striker had Andriano on him, he managed to win the aerial duel.
"Tacky!"
That was such a good header from the striker placed toward the right but his elevation was off just by a few inches, and as a result of that, Anderson ended up watching as the ball hit the crossbar before flying out for a goal kick.
"Oh, and it's the woodwork getting in the way."
"Two good chances missed by Manchester City within a space of two minutes, they're starting to get a bit tenacious."
There was no time to cry over what could have been now as the players in the back had to quickly head back to their positions before the goalkeeper sends the ball out, especially the defenders.
Anderson had to play the ball short to the right back who quickly sent it rolling to Arlan.
Andrea quickly rushed in from the side to try and take the ball off his feet but the youngster was fast enough to play a back pass to Marcel.
Marcel gave the ball a little push before he sent it flying out toward the right in an attempt to find Jonas.
It quickly turned into an aerial duel between the winger and Davi and before anyone knew it, Jonas was on the floor with both of his hands on his face.
Davi was about to quickly take off with the ball when the referee blew his whistle before making his way to the area.
"Yeah, that's a foul right there."
Everything happened so fast that a lot of fans in the stands didn't notice but playing everything back and in slow motion, Davi seemed to have connected his elbow with the winger's face and it looked a bit intentional.
Davi got a yellow card for that challenge and he wasn't happy about that but he knew best to just let it slide.
"The first booking of the game, Davi just had to take that one," Tony commented.
"And now Manchester United have a free kick in a fairly good position."
Paul was standing over the ball now from about thirty yards away from the goalpost while almost everyone else was lurking around and inside the box.
"They can conjure something with this one?"
The high-pitched sound pierced through the air at that moment, and as soon as Paul heard it, he quickly sent the ball flying in.
Causing a disaster in the box and probably getting a goal from it was what he was aiming for but Maxi just happened to be in the right position to nod the ball back and past Axel who was right at the edge of the box.
However, everything didn't end there as the rebound fell into the feet of Arlan who was in a good enough position to try a shot from that range.
"No." Axel gasped before quickly rushing toward him with a slide.
"Is he going to shoot from there? Arlan!"
Axel got there a bit too late as he had already released the ball toward the goalpost with his left foot.
It was a shot with the tiniest of elevation and he aimed for the bottom right corner.
Moreno was able to get the tip of his glove on the ball but that wasn't enough to stop the moving force as the ball smashed past his glove to smash into the net and pull it back.
"And he smashed it straight into the goalpost! That was just too much for Moreno to handle!"
Arlan quickly took off to the sidelines, and once he got there, he quickly turned around and did the famous celebration of the Portuguese and football legend, Cristiano Ronaldo.
"Suiiiiiii!!!"
The fans knew what he was going for before he could properly take the pose and they did not miss out on the fun.
The stadium was shaking with the sounds of their voice and while that was happening, Manchester City players had dejected looks on their faces.
Moreno was sitting on his goal line with his gaze on the floor, Maxi couldn't help but kick the floor out of frustration and Axel just stood near the edge of the box with his arms crossed.
'This is bad.'
"Manchester City cannot believe what just happened to them, for the first time this season, they are two goals behind and of course, it had to be against Manchester United."