Manchester City produced a flawless performance to cruise to a 2-0 win away against struggling rivals Manchester United on Saturday.
United were returning to the scene of the crime after the shambolic defeat to Liverpool in their last Old Trafford outing and it was a similar start against the champions, Harry Maguire squandering an early chance with a header before City took the lead just moments later.
The hosts’ defence has been under scrutiny in recent weeks and did little to ease the pressure with another horror moment, Tuesday night’s Champions League hero Eric Bailly slicing the ball into his own net from Joao Cancelo’s fairly innocuous cross.
Fresh from his brace in Bergamo, Cristiano Ronaldo then almost drew his side level with an excellent volleyed effort that was well saved by Ederson, while at the other end David De Gea was forced to spare the Red Devils’ blushes by tipping Gabriel Jesus effort over the bar.
The Spaniard then kept out a Kevin De Bruyne strike and prevented what would have been another own goal after Victor Lindelof’s errant, goalbound poke, albeit before suffering his own moment to forget as he failed to keep out Bernardo Silva’s tame attempt, after some lax defending from Luke Shaw at the backpost.
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That sucker-punch second on the stroke of half-time was richly deserved for the visitors, who had totally outplayed their rivals in the opening 45 minutes, with likely the only disappointment for Pep Guardiola being that his side didn’t have a more commanding lead at the break.
In truth, that 2-0 advantage appeared more than adequate as the home side hardly put up a fight in the second period, while City came to close to inflicting even more damage as both Phil Foden and John Stones went close.
As it was, there was to be little drama as City strolled their way to a convincing and dominant victory to move just two points behind leaders Chelsea, with Foden ‘delighted’ after a near-on perfect performance from his side following the disappointment of last week’s defeat to Crystal Palace.
“We had the game of our lives today. Everything went right, a lot of possession and chances. We dominated from start to finish.” Foden told Sky Sports.
“(What went right?) Possession, picking the right times and when to hurt them. Really pleased.
“We knew we could exploit the space in behind and we picked the right times to do it. My team-mates found me a few times in behind and on another day I could have finished the chances.
“We got in at half time and said we had to keep up the possession game and I thought we did that really well.
“Massive confidence going into the international break – important to get the win before that. Delighted.
“It was very important to get back to winning ways.”
Man City are next in action against Everton at the Etihad on Sunday 21 November, following the international break.
