Manchester United enjoyed a brilliant day in the Premier League after beating Man City with Joshua Zirkzee sending two emphatic messages.
Joshua Zirkzee sent perfect messages after Manchester United’s derby win.(Image: (Photo by Zohaib Alam – MUFC/Manchester United via Getty Images))
Joshua Zirkzee has sent the perfect message after Manchester United’s huge victory over neighbours Manchester City at Old Trafford. The returning Bryan Mbeumo put the hosts into a deserved lead after 65 minutes with Patrick Dorgu adding a second soon after to seal the points.
Mason Mount, who replaced Bruno Fernandes for the final stages, thought he had added a third goal, but it was ruled out for offside following a VAR check. Matheus Cunha had provided the pass to Mount, with the Brazil star earlier assisting Dorgu’s strike.
Alongside Mbeumo, Amad was also back from AFCON and he went straight into the starting XI, which saw Cunha and Benjamin Sesko drop out. The latter did not even make it on to the pitch with Mbeumo deployed as the false 9 by Michael Carrick.
Zirkzee would have been expected to join them on the bench, but he was missing from their squad in its entirety amid January transfer links. However, BBC Sport stated that United sources had confirmed he was missing due to a knock, and nothing to do with ongoing transfer rumours.
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The 24-year-old was still present at Old Trafford and he emphatically celebrated both at the time and with an X-rated message on social media. Reposting United’s full-time update to his Instagram story, Zirkzee wrote: F****** get in!!!!”
Joshua Zirkzee has been active on Instagram. (Image: )
Zirkzee also uploaded an image of himself, Matthijs de Ligt and Tom Heaton celebrating in the stands with three laughing emojis included in his post. Between those, he paid tribute to Casemiro, who was awarded player of the match.
The victory moved United up to fourth in the table for a few hours with Liverpool leapfrogging them despite a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Burnley.
Both of those teams have been inconsistent this season – but Carrick is eager to make sure those performances become the norm under his tenure.
He said: “That’s the challenge, ultimately, and I think it needs to be a version of normal. Certainly, we’re not going to have games with the emotion and the feeling of everything that today brought.
Michael Carrick delivered a clear Manchester United verdict after the victory over Man City.(Image: PA)
“I think we all understand that, but there’s definitely levels of standards and expectations that we need to live up to from ourselves as much as anyone on the outside. I’m fairly aware of that.
“Consistency is the key to any success, and if you can find that then you’re on to a winner. So that’s our challenge, we’ve got to find a way of doing that.
“It’s a big one next week obviously, another tough one, but on the back of today we’ve got a good foundation to build on.”
Zirkzee will be hoping for plenty of minutes under Carrick, but that seems unlikely given his potential injury, the lack of fixtures and attacking options at the club.