Manchester City have reclaimed top spot in the Premier League with a 2-0 cruise against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening.
Bernardo Silva fired the reigning Premier League champions into a second-half lead as he caught David De Gea off-guard to score at the near post. Substitute Leroy Sane doubled the lead as his shot went straight through the Spanish stopper once again to ensure the points headed back to the Etihad Stadium and hand the Citizens the advantage in the title race.
Fiery first-half
Pep Guardiola’s troops enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening stages and Chris Smalling almost diverted Raheem Sterling’s effort into his own net. De Gea was alive though to smother the ball. The Spaniard also produced an excellent save to paw away Bernardo Silva’s effort.
Manchester United though looked dangerous on the counter-attack and the speedy Marcus Rashford was the catalyst on most occasions. Ederson was at first out well to deny the England forward when bearing down on goal. He was then left grasping at thin air only minutes later as Rashford shot just over the bar from range.
City’s best opportunity came just before the break as Sterling did brilliantly to dribble through the whole Manchester United defence before firing straight at De Gea.
Slick City slice open United
Despite the first-half not seeing any goals, it did not take long for the scoreline to change following the break. Bernardo Silva picked the ball up on the right and cut-inside before firing low in De Gea’s front post to give the visitors what could potentially be a priceless lead in the title race.
Sergio Aguero almost doubled the lead only seconds later following another wonderful passage of play from Guardiola’s troops but his low effort struck the base of the post and went behind.
Following the goal, the game did appear to open up as Rashford profited from Kyle Walker’s mistake and crossed to the unmarked Jesse Lingard. Faced with an open goal, the winger somehow did not make contact with the ball to the relief of the City defence.
Sane steers champions into comfortable lead
The champions doubled their lead with just over a quarter of the game remaining. City broke on a lethal counter-attack, with Sane being played into acres of space on the left flank and shot at De Gea’s near post. The effort appeared to take the stopper by surprise once again as it deflected off of his leg and into the back of the net.
City saw out the rest of the game with ease to claim what was in the end a simple victory as attention now turns to their next clash with Burnley.
Final Thoughts
It would be fair to say that David De Gea had a tricky evening at Old Trafford. Despite that, City were deserving winners. They looked the most threatening throughout the evening and dealt with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men with relative ease. The chasm between the two clubs was plainly obvious throughout the match. The Citizens are now one point clear at the top of the Premier League.
Match Report
Manchester United: De Gea (4); Shaw (5), Lindelöf (6), Smalling (5), Darmian (6) (Sanchez (N/A), 83′), Young (6); Pogba (5), Fred (5), Pereira (6) (Lukaku (5), 72′); Lingard (5) (Martial (N/A), 83′), Rashford (6).
Manchester City: Ederson (6); Zinchenko (6), Laporte (7), Kompany (6), Walker (7); D. Silva (7), Fernandinho (6) (Sane (7), 51′), Gundogan (7) (Danilo (N/A), 89′); Sterling (6), Aguero (7) (Jesus (N/A), 89′); B. Silva (7).
Goals: B. Silva (54′), Sane (66′)
Referee: Andre Marriner
Yellow Cards: Kompany (10′), Pereira (24′), Zinchenko (27′), Shaw (89′)
Red Cards: N/A
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