The 187th Manchester derby began with nervous pessimism and a goalscoring return to Manchester City for Jadon Sancho. It ended with the gleeful Blues Ole-ing their dominant heroes, and bouncing the stadium with a Poznan of joyous proportions.
In between, there was a stark reminder of the huge gulf in class between these two teams, despite the fact that they are separated by only four places in the Premier League table. Indeed, if it had not been for a superlative goalkeeping display by David De Gea, a City side inspired by Kevin De Bruyne ’s surging brilliance, Jack Grealish ’s poise and panache and Phil Foden ’s balletic balance would have racked up a scoreline to match the 2011 massacre of Old Trafford.
They had to be content with two goals from De Bruyne and two from Riyad Mahrez, and a match that became more one-sided the longer it went on. By the end, United were reduced to snidey ankle taps and desperate challenges as the Blues ran through, round and over them at will.
