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.
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De Bruyne and Mahrez grabbed the limelight with the goals, but in many ways this was the day when Jack Grealish truly became a Manchester City player. Maybe it was his excellent touch and finish in the less pressured surroundings of Peterborough on Tuesday night that flicked the switch, but the £100million suddenly looked like … well, a £100million man.
His link-up play with Foden, Bernardo Silva and Joao Cancelo was the key to this game, creating the two first-half goals that De Bruyne finished like a penalty-box poacher. And in the second half, he was reducing the Reds to a rabble with his direct running, clever releases and slick touches.
The decision to play him instead of the more direct Raheem Sterling was questioned by some, but Grealish made it plain he will take some shifting from the team now he has the bit between his teeth. Two early goals, one for either side, promised that this would be a derby much more evenly contested than the Blues’ 2-0 win at Old Trafford earlier in the season. It was a false Red dawn.
As soon as City stepped it up, United simply could not live with them. Guardiola can claim a part in De Bruyne’s opener. He was furiously bouncing around his technical area in the early stages, urging Joao Cancelo to get higher, and for City to find him.
The moment that happened, City were in. Cancelo attracted Aaron Wan-Bissaka and picked out Bernardo’s run. He combined with Jack Grealish, hit the by-line and pulled the ball back for De Bruyne to gleefully ram home.
Ederson was a virtual spectator at Old Trafford in the first derby of the season, but he was quickly in action as United sought to hit back immediately. Fred burst through the middle, with Kyle Walker pulling out of a challenge that could easily have led to a penalty, and Ederson raced out to sprawl in front of the Brazilian and block the shot.
Maybe United were expecting Sterling to start, but they were completely flummoxed by that left-sided link-up of Cancelo, Bernardo and Grealish, with Foden sticking his classy oar in every now and then. City fans were just starting to relish more pain being inflicted on their old rivals when the Reds levelled - and inevitably it was old boy Jadon Sancho who grabbed the equaliser.
The bad old days, pre-Ruben Dias, were in evidence as City were exposed by a swift counter-attack. In possession, the absence of Dias, out with a hamstring injury, was possibly an advantage as John Stones and Aymeric Laporte both use the ball better.
But the steel and organisation that Dias has brought has pretty much quashed the Blues’ bad old habit of being wide open when defending a high line. This time, Paul Pogba’s pass gave Sancho a run at Kyle Walker, and when Bruno Fernandes’ decoy run distracted the right back, Sancho made use of the time and space it created inside to get the ball on his right foot and curl it into the far corner.
But City continued to cause havoc around and beyond a bewildered Wan-Bissaka - and Harry Maguire’s tug on Foden should have brought a penalty as Foden desperately tried to stay on his feet - and then discovered ref Michael Oliver had given a free kick the other way. It was a remarkable decision, United getting the rub of the VAR green this week after Rodri’s handball escape at Goodison Park last week. Swings and roundabouts.
The Blues continued to push hard, chiefly down the left-hand side, and when Grealish and Foden combined again it brought the breakthrough. Foden brilliantly flicked the ball into the air to completely outfox Victor Lindelof before crashing in a shot that David De Gea did well to keep out. Bernardo followed up and saw Maguire hurl himself in the way but when the second rebound went straight to De Bruyne, there was only going to be one outcome.
The Belgian midfielder had hit a relatively quiet patch in recent weeks, but he was an all-action danger to the Reds every time he got on the ball, driving the Blues forwards. One such surge ended with a pass to Foden that saw him shoot narrowly wide of the far post.
Riyad Mahrez was feeling a little neglected by all the action on the far side of the pitch, so he grabbed a bit himself, suddenly carving inside and firing in a shot that De Gea palmed away. With City in complete command in the second half, and United fighting hard just to keep their heads above the surging Blue tide, Mahrez took a more meaningful intervention.
It looked like something out of the playbook devised by setpiece coach Carlos Vicens and his analysts. A surge into the six-yard box by City’s big men suckered in the United defenders and when De Bruyne lofted a corner kick over them, no-one had paid attention to Mahrez dashing from the far side.
He caught it sweetly on the half-volley and the ball nestled in the far corner via a deflection off Maguire. City roared forward in search of more goals and but for De Gea they would have got them. In the end they had to be content with just four, as sub Ilkay Gundogan slipped a delightful reverse pass into Mahrez’s path.
He smashed home via De Gea's shoulder only for the assistant to raise his flag. The replays showed that Lindelof’s foot was playing the City man onside and the goal was given, to take Mahrez to 21 for the season. That sparked the scenes of joy around the stadium - it was a huge win not just as a derby victory, but also in terms of the title race.
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