Man City have been told “cheats never prosper” as they lost 2-1 in the Manchester Derby on Sunday by former Man Utd academy product Ben Thornley.
The Red Devils came from a goal down to beat the Citizens in the derby with Ruben Amorim’s side remaining in 13th position in the Premier League table but closed the gap on fifth-placed Man City to five points.
Josko Gvardiol scored the opening goal of the game in the first half and Man City were largely in control until Man Utd turned the game on its head at the death.
Bruno Fernandes converted a penalty on 88 minutes to equalise before Amad Diallo – who won the penalty – scored a late winner by running on to a long ball, lobbing the goalkeeper and finishing into the net.
One of the main talking points was Kyle Walker’s decision to fall to the floor after going forehead to forehead with Man Utd striker Rasmus Hojlund in the first half.
Neither player pushed their head forward and Walker’s decision to go to ground was a desperate attempt to get the Denmark international sent off.
Speaking after the match, former Man Utd academy graduate Thornley – who made nine league appearances for the Red Devils – sent a “cheats never prosper” message to arch-rivals Man City.
Thornley said: “It’s huge. It really is huge because you didn’t want it to be three, especially against United’s neighbours. And do you know what I think back to what Kyle Walker did in that first half, ‘cheats never prosper’, as far as I’m concerned.
“And that’s exactly what he tried to do. He tried to get Rasmus Hojlund and sent off.”
Referring to the television cameras zooming in on Walker at the end, Thornley added: “So I’m glad we had a close up of how disappointed he was to be losing that game.”
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Speaking after the match, Amorim thought Man Utd “deserved” to win in “Fergie time” as he was pleased his side stayed in the game for the entire match.
Amorim said: “I think we deserved it. It was a very tough match but we believe until the end. We managed to score, we needed that win, it was important for us and for our fans. We were in the game for 90 minutes and that is very good.
“We talk about the Arsenal game, we played well in the first half, but they were not believing that we could win. Today was so much more different. I also believe. Then we have Fergie time and we put the things together and something magic happened. It was a good day for us.”
Amorim thought a goal was coming before their equaliser, he added: “You can feel we were near to scoring. We improved our speed, when we make our runs and we had some opportunities. We controlled very well [Erling] Haaland and the other guys in the offence of City.
“In the end, when we scored the first one, you can feel it in the team, they want it more. You feel like we still have minutes and we have the momentum. Congratulations to the lads.”
