Manchester City 4, Manchester United 1
Manchester City destroyed Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium with braces by Kevin de Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez confirming victory after a dominant second half despite a first half equaliser by ex-City midfielder Jadon Sancho giving the Reds hope.
PLAYER RATINGS – Manchester City 4, Manchester United 1
Manchester City
Ederson: 7. Great save from Fred and stopped a Fred cross into the box.
Kyle Walker: 7. Allowed himself to be dragged away from Jadon Sancho by Bruno Fernandes but improved as City dominated the game. His cutback deserved a finish by Joao Cancelo.
John Stones: 7. Odd sloppy pass and bypassed for Jadon Sancho’s goal but improved by the end.
Aymeric Laporte: 7. Bailed out a couple of times until United ran out of steam.
Joao Cancelo: 8. His flank was the target of some in game rants by Pep Guardiola but he did his defensive work thereafter with a couple of great interceptions and even had a great chance with a glorious scissor kick at the end when Kyle Walker picked him out.
Rodri: 7. United tried to pass round him but he had plenty of support and could still pick passes out.
Kevin De Bruyne: 10. Opened the scoring early after finding himself in plenty of space and was there to snap up a rebound to put City back in the lead. Killer passes were in plentiful supply too. He was taken off towards the end with United trying to rough him up as they couldn’t get near him.
Bernardo Silva: 8. Astute movement and cut back for the opening goal, kept United under pressure for the second goal and constant movement kept the Reds on the back foot.
Riyad Mahrez: 9. Stretched Alex Telles out on the right. Had a fierce shot saved by David de Gea before scoring twice as the Reds fell apart after a quiet first half.
Jack Grealish: 8. Started the move that ended with City’s opening goal, played a full part in the derby with increasingly important involvement, touches on the ball, and passes.
Phil Foden: 9. City’s false 9 from the start, headed a looping ball onto the bar. Should have had a penalty when hauled down by Harry Maguire but produced a moment of magic to leave Victor Lindelof aghast as he started the move that ended with Kevin De Bruyne’s second goal and could have scored himself with United sloppy on the ball.
Ilkay Gündoğan (on for Kevin de Bruyne, 80): No time to mark.
Manchester United
David De Gea: 7. String of saves to deny City a bigger lead including one from Joao Cancelo at the end but was let down by players in front of him.
Aaron Wan Bissaka: 5. Not much chance to get forward, poor crossing when he did. Outmuscled by Phil Foden, outfoxed by Jack Grealish.
Victor Lindelof: 5. Ponderous defending and left for dead by Phil Foden more than once.
Harry Maguire: 5. Too slow to see the danger from Kevin De Bruyne early on but blocked a De Bruyne shot later and hauled down Phil Foden as he tried to get round him. Stopped De Bruyne with a well timed tackle in the first half as City looked to get a third.
Alex Telles: 5. Not as ambitious as he usually is but then City were lighting fires everywhere in the United defence especially in the second half.
Scott McTominay: 5. City midfield passed him by.
Fred: 6. Could have scored an equaliser and looked dynamic early on, but faded like everyone else.
Jadon Sancho: 6. First game at the Etihad and he scored a great equaliser for United.
Paul Pogba: 5. Set up Jadon Sancho’s equaliser with a great ball from midfield but faded.
Anthony Elanga: 4. Not much chance to challenge down City’s occasionally exposed left flank. Taken off.
Bruno Fernandes: 5. False 9 role from the start and he drew Kyle Walker away to give space for Sancho to run into for his goal. Some decent balls into the box but lost positional discipline, stopped pressing, and United lost what cutting edge they had after that.
Marcus Rashford (on for Paul Pogba, 64): 6. Ran into dead ends. Look low on confidence and motivation.
Jesse Lingard (On for Anthony Elanga, 64): 6. Ineffective.
GOALS – Manchester City 4, Manchester United 1
Man City 1, Man Utd 0: 5. Kevin De Bruyne made no mistake from 8 yards out when a cut back ball came to him from Bernardo Silva after a dizzying spell of passes down City’s left and he made no mistake.
Man City 1, Man Utd 1: 22. Jadon Sancho cut inside and curled the ball inside the far post with no other options on after Paul Pogba found him with a great ball up to him from midfield after United counter attacked.
Man City 2, Man Utd 1: 28. Kevin de Bruyne snapped up a second rebound after Phil Foden lifted thhe ball over Victor Lindelof but his shot was blocked by David De Gea, and the first rebound from Bernardo Silva was blocked by Harry Maguire
Man City 3, Man Utd 1: 68. Riyad Mahrez slotted home a low half volley from the edge of the box after meeting Kevin De Bruyne’s corner first time with a rasper past David de Gea.
Man City 4, Man Utd 1: 90. Riyad Mahrez smashed in a fourth off the face of the unlucky David De Gea, verified after an offside check by VAR, after Ilkay Gundogan passed him the ball.
MATCH STATS – Manchester City 4, Manchester United 1
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Cancelo, Rodri, De Bruyne (C) (Gundogan 80), Bernardo Silva, Mahrez, Grealish, Foden
Man City subs not used: Carson, Sterling, Jesus, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Delap, Mbete, McAtee
Goals: De Bruyne 5, 28; Mahrez 68, 90
Man Utd: De Gea, Wan Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire (C), Telles, McTominay, Fred, Sancho, Pogba (Rashford 64), Elanga (Lingard 64), Fernandes
Man Utd subs not used: Henderson, Bailly, Jones, Mata, Dalot, Matic, Mejbri
Booked: Maguire 63 (foul on Kevin de Bruyne)
Goal: Sancho 22
Referee: Michael Oliver