Amad's reaction to Bruno Fernandes sets up Manchester United for unforgettable win vs Man City

Bruno Fernandes tried to bury himself in the turf. Amad hoisted him back to his feet. Then it was Fernandes and Amad who picked Manchester United up.

Fernandes' fluffed finish from Rasmus Hojlund's threaded pass appeared to be United's last chance. But this Manchester City side is a giver of chances and United had two more. They took them.

Within two minutes, City imploded. Even by their recent shoddy standards, this was the nadir. Three points were reduced to one. Then to none.

Amad, already a cult figure with the United followers for his unforgettable FA Cup quarter-final winner against Liverpool, has now claimed the 90th-minute scalp of City. This one was sealed with a kiss of the badge.

He won the penalty Fernandes nervelessly converted and seconds later adroitly cushioned the ball past Ederson, had a glance and audaciously tucked the ball in from an acute angle. Amad was soon smothered by United starters and substitutes. Lisandro Martinez, responsible for the assist, belatedly charged up the pitch to join in.

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"You're getting sacked in the morning," hollered the United fans at a dumbfounded Pep Guardiola. This was a win almost as sweet as the title-denying derby at the Etihad in 2018. This is a derby triumph at City to rank with 1993, 2000, 2010 and 2018.

The United fans soon serenaded Ruben Amorim, ending his request to stop chanting his name. Amorim will not mind that on this, his first derby. He is also responsible for two of the eight defeats City have suffered in their past 11 matches.

For the United chief executive Omar Berrada, back on his old stomping ground, this was the most compelling evidence as to why he made a beeline for Amorim in late October. It might have been Amorim in the Etihad home dugout last season. Some City fans who were in attendance may wish he was.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, oh what fun it is to see United win away," the Reds chorused at full-time. This was United's first win at City since March 2021, when the turnstiles were locked amid the Covid-19 pandemic. This lock-in meant so much more.

City fans unfurled a banner that read, "You'll never win four in a row". They will not get near five. Had they ground out a 1-0 win, it would have been the worst City side to defeat United since the pre-takeover days.

This was accurately billed the most dysfunctional derby in a generation during the build-up and it played out as such. The 195th eition seemed certain to be settled by a set-piece goal on an afternoon where City tallied a meagre three attempts on target.

United rolled the ball around City's third so aimlessly it seemed they could not possibly conceive a goal. Then Matheus Nunes, one of Guardiola's weakest signings, gifted Amad an awful pass and then committed an awful challenge inside the area. Penalty.

Amorim, a patient presence during the first half, had started to become more visibly frustrated in the second. Yet this is not the City United have become accustomed to facing on their own patch. United had great chances before and after Josko Gvardiol leapt unattended in the 36th minute.

City were there for the taking and even this United team took them. Guardiola's side entered this derby with one win in ten and their supporters in front of the press box complained with such dismay it felt like Peter Swales was still the chairman. In the 63rd minute, Erling Haaland connected with the ball inside his area. His own area. The ball was hoiked into the United half where there was not a single light blue shirt.

Yet this is also the worst United side in 38 years that had three victories in 13 derbies. The significance of avoiding three successive Premier League defeats for the first time since December 2015 cannot be underestimated. Nor can the identity of the team they overcame. A minor footnote: United won away at an old 'big six' side for the first time since October 2021.

The 88th-90th minute turnaround was so remarkable as a goal seemed so unlikely as Amorim had a costly but uninspiring bench. Joshua Zirkzee and Tyrell Malacia enjoyed a leisurely half-time warm-up without ever appearing ready to emerge. Amorim did not make a tactical change in the first 70 minutes. Eventually, Antony, Zirkzee and Leny Yoro were summoned in the 78th minute.

The main story threatened to be the one before kick-off with the news that Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were excluded from the United squad. Neither were injured. Nobody in the away end will care after the finale.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe attended his first Etihad derby, flanked by the reduced brains trust of Jason Wilcox and Sir Dave Brailsford. United have a long road with a cycling team principal and Southampton's director of football last season yet Amorim is a man to get behind and this result reinforces that.

He will still be clinical with his analysis. United were blunted with two full backs on the wings yet the two potential game-changing wingers were not even in the away dugout. The Manchester Evening News was informed of the starting XI on Saturday evening and reported Rashford's complete absence on Sunday afternoon.

Rashford and Garnacho were ordered to train at Carrington in the morning, having been informed of their squad omissions on Saturday night. Amorim was happy to publicly clarify the squad's two specialist left wingers were neither injured and had both had a morning workout on the club's premises.

Figures at United stressed Garnacho's squad removal was not related to speculation that his brother, Roberto, leaks United line-ups.

Garnacho is still United's top scorer and Rashford joint-second. United are often toothless with them on the teamsheet and they lacked bite again. Until Nunes gifted Fernandes a shot at redemption.

United's plan A lasted less than 12 minutes. Luke Shaw was United's only injured squad member yet he will have familiar company in the Carrington medical department. Mason Mount broke down in the 12th minute on his sixth start of the season.

Half-a-dozen teammates consoled the clearly crestfallen Mount on his way off before he disappeared down the tunnel. His reappearance in the team this month would be a Christmas miracle.

Carlos Fernandes, Amorim's assistant tasked with set pieces, entered the technical area and hollered something seconds before Kevin De Bruyne's dead-ball went live. As fortuitous as De Bruyne's deflected cross was, Diogo Dalot and Rasmus Hojlund shrank against the towering Gvardiol.

Shortly before the first half ended, Dalot was outjumped by his diminutive compatriot Bernardo Silva. In the final third, there was no conviction from the Portuguese. On the opposite side, Amad was flagged offside three times before the interval.

He was better positioned for Fernandes' cross to graze his crown, which had Ederson scrambling across his goal to paw the ball behind. The pair combined more memorably late on.

They picked United up.