With all eyes from across Europe falling on the Etihad on Sunday afternoon, Manchester City stormed their way to a thumping 4-1 win against their bitter local rivals.
Really laying down a marker in front of a sellout home support, the Sky Blues largely didn’t have to get out of third gear as Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez bagged themselves a brace on either side of the half-time break.
Managing to extend their buffer at the top of the Premier League table to six points, City also handed Manchester United a real lesson on Sunday afternoon.
Ending United’s run of three straight victories at the Etihad here, we have taken a look at the key talking points.
City lay down their marker to Liverpool
Without doubt watching on from home as Liverpool picked up a scrappy 1-0 win against West Ham 24 hours before they took to the pitch here, there is no doubt that Pep Guardiola got the perfect performance from his side on Sunday afternoon.
Despite struggling to find top gear with much stability over the past fortnight, the former Bayern Munich boss saw his side come roaring back after their controversial 1-0 victory away at relegation scrappers Everton last weekend.
With Jack Grealish making his first Premier League start since January 22nd, the England winger put in arguably his best display in a Sky Blue shirt and helped spearhead a Manchester City side that eventually cruised their way to all three points here.
Once again underlining why many have tipped them as the leading contender in this year’s title chase, Guardiola will be desperate for his side to build off of their second-half performance and use that as a blueprint over the remainder of the season.
With Riyad Mahrez bagging a scintillating brace after returning from the half-time break, the one-time Leicester winger has now racked up 21 goals across all competitions this year.
City will be next seen in midweek when they host Sporting Lisbon for their Champions League second-leg.
A tale of two-halves for United
Watching Jadon Sancho produce a sublime whipped finish to drag United level just 15 minutes after De Bruyne’s opener, many around the Etihad would have been surprised by the way that Ralf Rangnick’s men came flying out of the traps here.
With both Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani not even among United’s subs, the decision to play Bruno Fernandes as a false nine appeared to have been a smart move from the former RB Leipzig boss during the first-half.
However, while the Reds might have caused City some real issues in the opening 45, Rangnick’s side rather drastically failed to keep up that momentum as they were completely blown away after returning from the interval.
Failing to record a single shot on Ederson’s goal during the whole of the second-half and likely to come under real scrutiny, United now appear in a real uphill battle if they’re to clinch a much-needed top-four finish this season.
Showing that they’re still a million miles away from matching their bitter crosstown rivals with an abject second-half display here, Arsenal’s 3-2 win away at Watford earlier in the day means that the struggling English giants now find themselves sat outside the Champions League spots.
De Bruyne dazzles on milestone afternoon
While Kevin De Bruyne might have opened the 2021/22 campaign dealing with some injury issues after his run with Belgium at last summer’s European Championships, the 30-year-old has really started to find his form at what could be a pivotal time for Manchester City.
Really stealing the show on Sunday afternoon in what was a magical first-half display, the former Chelsea playmaker was more than deserving of his Man of the Match award after bagging an early brace.
Instrumental in everything good that the Sky Blues produced at the Etihad, De Bruyne also set another Premier League milestone as he guided City to their thumping 4-1 win.
Opening the scoring with a sweeping finish after just five minutes, the Belgian superstar eventually came off to a standing ovation with his 50th and 51st Premier League goals in the bank.
With Sunday’s victory remarkably the first Manchester derby win that De Bruyne has collected on home soil, City’s talisman underlined just why the Sky Blues don’t need an out-and-out striker to get the job done.
Match Report
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Cancelo, Rodri, Silva, De Bruyne, Grealish, Foden, Mahrez
Subs: Gündoğan
Manchester United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Telles, Pogba, Fred, McTominay, Sancho, Elanga, Fernandes
Subs: Lingard, Rashford
Goals: Manchester City: De Bruyne 5′, 28′, Mahrez 68′, 90′ – Manchester United: Sancho 22′
Yellow Cards: Maguire
Red Cards: N/A
Referee: Michael Oliver
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