Manchester United were left stunned after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City at Old Trafford, despite the visitors playing with only 10 men for almost two-thirds of the contest.
Erling Haaland scored the decisive goal, with a controversial VAR decision playing a major role in handing City the winner.
United struck the woodwork twice through Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo, while Bryan Mbeumo had a golden opportunity to rescue a point but failed to beat the City goalkeeper.
There will be plenty of detailed analysis of this gripping derby in the days to come, but it would be foolish to pretend that United had not seen this problem coming.
INEOS chose to ignore clear warning signs
Head coach Michael Carrick was forced to start Patrick Dorgu at left-back after Luke Shaw failed to pass a late fitness test.
Dorgu had featured in every pre-season game but had not played a single minute at full-back, making his selection against City a significant gamble.
Bolstering the midfield was a clear priority but signing a left-back was the next urgent agenda in the transfer window but INEOS brutally overlooked that glaring need.
Shaw remains a quality player, but his injury record makes it impossible to rely on him to play consistently across four competitions.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his leadership team knew the 31-year-old was likely to suffer another injury at some point this season, leaving Carrick with a major problem to solve.
Despite knowing the risk, they failed to address it and left their head coach exposed.
Dorgu started at left-back against Sabah FK last week and registered an assist, but he was repeatedly caught out of position and exposed defensively.
A star-studded City side would have been more than happy to see his name on the team sheet.
A red card to Phil Foden eased concerns but ultimately it was Dorgu who gave away the ball for the match-winning goal.
The 21-year-old is not a natural left-back and has not played enough football in the position to warrant harsh criticism for struggling against one of the strongest sides in the English top flight.
Carrick had the choice of sticking with Dorgu or turning to the right-footed Noussair Mazraoui, and selecting Dorgu was arguably the more sensible option given the circumstances.
Unfortunately for Carrick and his players, the club failed to show enough ambition in the transfer market to give them the tools needed for nights like this.
City may have won the Manchester derby yesterday, but United had arguably already lost the battle on deadline day when they decided against signing a specialist left-back.
Stats from Fotmob.com
