Thomas Tuchel has spoken publicly in support of Raheem Sterling, saying he feels for the forward as his career and personal life continue to unravel. Sterling pleaded guilty to dangerous driving charges last month and remains without a club after failing to secure a move since then.

The case has already drawn significant attention. In May, Sterling crashed his Lamborghini into a metal gate after an incident on the M25 and M3. At the scene, police found six nitrous oxide canisters, and bodycam footage released in September showed him trying to move them onto the back seat after he admitted the charges.

Tuchel, who previously asked Todd Boehly to prioritise Sterling’s arrival at Stamford Bridge in 2022, believes the winger’s decline began after leaving Man City. Sterling had established himself as a major Premier League figure after breaking through at Liverpool and moving to the Cityzens in a $75 million deal in 2014. Under Pep Guardiola, he produced five straight double-digit Premier League goal returns between 2017-18 and 2021-22.

“I have a lot of sympathy for him, and I feel that he has struggled ever since he left Man City and he was at the peak of his career,” Tuchel told reporters on Friday.

Sterling scored 13 goals in his final season at the Etihad before joining Chelsea in 2022. He managed 24 Premier League goal contributions across his first two seasons in west London, but his position changed sharply after that. A loan move to Arsenal did not revive him, and he later found himself outside Enzo Maresca’s plans, spending much of his time with the Italian’s “bomb squad” before leaving the club earlier this year.

His stint at Feyenoord brought more frustration, with his own supporters mocking and jeering him. Then came the Lamborghini incident.

“It’s sad to see that someone struggles because he was a devoted father to his children and he was a family guy, a nice guy to be around,” Tuchel added.

Tuchel still believes Sterling can recover from what he called a “downward spiral”, though the evidence of the last few seasons suggests a long way back for a player who once looked destined for a far brighter end to his career.

Manchester United left Old Trafford with a result that felt more painful because of the circumstances, as Erling Haaland’s lone goal handed Manchester City a 1-0 win in a derby shaped by Phil Foden’s dismissal. City spent most of the match with 10 men, yet still found a way to take control of the contest after the red card changed the rhythm of the afternoon.

Foden’s intervention should have tilted the balance toward United, especially after the hosts had been growing into the game. Instead, the incident altered the structure in City’s favour. With Elliot Anderson isolated at the base of a 4-1-4-1, United initially caused problems by drawing him into awkward decisions, particularly as Matheus Cunha kept dropping from the forward line. But once City reshaped into a compact 4-4-1, they became harder to break down and gave Anderson far more protection.

That left United searching for solutions they did not find. More than 40 minutes passed after Foden’s dismissal before Gianluigi Donnarumma was forced into a save, and the best opening of the closing stages was wasted by Bryan Mbeumo at stoppage time. The broader picture was stark: a team with the numerical advantage failed to turn it into control, while the side with 10 men grew more organised and disciplined.

There were solid individual displays in the United side, with Kobbie Mainoo standing out in midfield and several defenders coping reasonably well. For City, Donnarumma produced the decisive intervention when required, Matheus Nunes came through a physical duel on the right, and Haaland again showed his reliability in the key moment. His finish, awkward as it looked, was enough to settle a match that United failed to manage after the sending-off.

The numbers reflected the frustration for the hosts. United had 55 percent possession and 16 shots, but City created the cleaner openings and made theirs count. In a derby of fine margins, the team with the red card left with the points.

The opening Manchester derby of the 2026/27 season arrived with familiar tension and a fresh sense of history around both dugouts.

Manchester United still carry the weight of their long record of success, but the gap to their last league title now stretches to 13 years. Manchester City, by contrast, have collected seven top-flight crowns in that period. Carrick acknowledged that shift in power with a blunt assessment: “We are humble enough and realistic enough to know where we have come from in recent history,” the Red Devils boss reluctantly accepted.

Derbies do not rewrite history, but they do offer a chance to seize the moment, even if only for a day. United’s team selection added extra intrigue because Marcus Rashford was back in the spotlight after the strange turn his derby story has taken in recent seasons. He was omitted entirely in the first Manchester derby of the 2024/25 campaign, a decision that began a fractured spell between player and manager. A loan at Aston Villa followed, including a goal against City, before a productive season at Barcelona. Now, under Carrick, the 28-year-old has another chance to face City, and he already has seven goals in 23 appearances against them.

United were, however, without Luke Shaw, Rashford’s usual ally on the left side.

Starting XI: Senne Lammens; Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martínez, Patrick Dorgu; Kobbie Mainoo, Youri Tielemans; Bryan Mbeumo, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford; Matheus Cunha.

Substitutes: Karl Darlow (GK), Ayden Heaven, Mason Mount, Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Andrey Santos, Noussair Mazraoui, Shea Lacey, Benjamin Šeško.

On the City side, Maresca was taking in his first derby as the man in charge, though he had already lived this fixture from inside the staff room. He worked as Pep Guardiola’s assistant for three of these meetings during City’s treble-winning 2022/23 campaign, including the 6-3 win at Old Trafford.

Erling Haaland and Phil Foden were both named in the line-up again, with Foden’s derby influence underlined by Maresca’s words: “The feeling for him is probably different to rest of the players,” Maresca admitted. “It’s normal. For him, it’s a different game.”