Manchester City 3-1 Manchester United: Champions too good for rivals in derby win

Manchester City were too good for rivals Manchester United as they won 3-1 in Sunday's derby at the Etihad Stadium.

City dominated the early stages and took the lead through David Silva from eight yards (12), before Sergio Aguero's fine strike from an acute angle (48) put them two up and seemingly in control.

Anthony Martial then pulled one back from the spot (58), but the champions regained their two-goal advantage with four minutes remaining as sub Ilkay Gundogan controlled brilliantly and slotted home from close range after United fell asleep at the back.

The result means City go back to the top of the Premier League, two points above Liverpool and now four above Chelsea following their draw with Everton, while United are in eighth, seven points off the top four.

City made most of the early running as Bernardo Silva flashed a 20-yard effort just wide, and thoroughly deserved their opener on 12 minutes.

Raheem Sterling's fine cross to the back post was kept alive by Bernardo Silva, Aguero looked to be hauled to the ground by Chris Smalling, but as referee Anthony Taylor let play go on, Silva squeezed home right-footed from eight yards.

It felt like the floodgates would open, but United restricted City to few chances before the break, even if their defensive efforts restricted any attacking bite.

The second did come, just three minutes into the second half, as United lost the ball in midfield and allowed Aguero a run at Victor Lindelof. After a lovely one-two with Riyad Mahrez, Aguero thundered one over David De Gea from a tight angle to the right of goal.

United's comeback from 2-0 down here in April would have still been fresh in many City's players' minds, and they halved the deficit as half-time sub Romelu Lukaku was brought down by Ederson, allowing Martial to slot home a penalty, his sixth goal in seven.

The visitors struggled to create much thereafter, and City wrapped it up in the 86th minute as Bernardo Silva's cross caught United napping, allowing Gundogan to take the ball down and turn past David de Gea following a 44-pass move, the most in the Premier League since September 2015.

Opta stats

• There were 44 passes in the build-up for Manchester City's third goal - the most for a goal in the competition since Juan Mata scored for Man Utd against Southampton in September 2015 (45).
• This is the first time since 1990/91 that Man Utd have lost as many as four of their opening 12 games in a top-flight season.
• This is the first time since 1977/78 that Man Utd have a negative goal difference after 12 games of a top-flight season.
• Only Fulham (0) have kept fewer clean sheets than Manchester United (1) in the Premier League this season.
• Man City's Sergio Aguero has scored eight Premier League goals against Manchester United - only Alan Shearer (10) has more against the Reds in the competition.
• There were just 30 seconds between Romelu Lukaku coming on as a sub for Man Utd, and winning the penalty that made it 2-1.
• Anthony Martial became the fifth French player to score in five consecutive Premier League games, after Eric Cantona, Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry and Olivier Giroud.
• David Silva has scored in three consecutive home games in all competitions for Man City for the first time.
• This was Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho's 300th Premier League game as manager - despite defeat today, he's won more games than any other manager in their first 300 in the competition (189).

The managers

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Pep Guardiola: "We deserved the victory, we played better last season than this season, especially in the first half. The first half we played a little bit with fear. But we made a good performance in a top game against a top, top team, we cannot forget what they have done in the past few weeks. I am happy for the result."

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Jose Mourinho: "I think it is not a bad performance at all. It was a performance with mistakes and we paid for it. All three goals are our mistakes. Against a team like City, if you make mistakes you will get punished."

Man of the match - David Silva

Another City win, another masterful David Silva performance. His 56 passes in the opposition half says it all; he is desperate to be in those dangerous areas, passing the ball forwards constantly, where it really hurt United on Sunday.

When he doesn't pass it on, he looks to run past players, and his reading of the game is second to none. Even without the ball, his movement through the lines caused United problems, and he routinely found space. Is this Silva at his peak? It feels like the peak has lasted years and years…

What's next?

Manchester City now go to West Ham after the international break on Saturday, November 24 at 3pm, while United host Crystal Palace at the same time in the Premier League.

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