City thrash United at the Etihad Stadium in the Manchester Derby

Manchester City sent out a message to rivals Liverpool in the Premier League title chase as they recorded an emphatic 4-1 demolition of neighbours Manchester United.

Given the visitors’ recent form in the fixture, the blow of losing Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani and Luke Shaw pre-match to injury and COVID-19 felt that this latest challenge was one that required United at full strength, and it proved that way.

City flew out of the traps and got off to the perfect start in the fifth minute, thanks to captain Kevin De Bruyne. As Jack Grealish controlled the ball on the left-hand side and drifted infield, he nudged Bernardo Silva into the box with a short pass.

Swivelling on the ball as he progressed towards the byline, the midfielder pulled it back and deceived the United defence. It fell perfectly to De Bruyne, who carefully stroked the ball past David De Gea to send the Etihad into early raptures.

If that was the start of the script for a perfect afternoon, United had not read it initially, and they stunned the home crowd when Jadon Sancho hauled them level with a well-taken equaliser.

An excellent counter caught City napping, and a probing pass from Paul Pogba picked out Sancho in space on the left-hand side. Cutting in-field away from the attentions of Kyle Walker and Rodri, the England international manoeuvred enough space to curl the ball past Ederson’s outstretched arm.

Moments after the equaliser, City were back on the front foot on and reclaimed the lead. Grealish’s knockdown found Foden, who sublimely flicked the ball over Victor Lindelof’s head on the edge of the box. Beating his man for pace, the diminutive midfielder took a touch before flashing a shot at De Gea, who did well to parry.

As United failed to react, Grealish was first to the rebound, but his effort pinballed off Lindelof and Harry Maguire before falling to the grateful feet off De Bruyne, who took a touch before firing past the unfortunate De Gea.

Riyad Mahrez scored the pick of the bunch with a spectacular goal to put City 3-1 up. Having dominated the second period, City finally made their possession pay. De Bruyne floated his corner to the onrushing Mahrez, who superbly stroked the ball into the bottom corner on the half volley.

The Citizens were not finished there. Joao Cancelo almost topped Mahrez’s strike with a magnificent acrobatic effort which De Gea palmed away, and Ilkay Gundogan should have converted after some good work from Grealish.

However, the icing was put on the cake as Mahrez compounded United’s miserable afternoon in injury time. As the Algerian was sent through on goal with the United defence caught static once more, he thumped the ball at De Gea which ricocheted off the goalkeeper’s shoulder and into the top corner. Whilst Mahrez looked to have been fractionally offside, VAR confirmed he was onside and awarded the goal.

It was a superb display from Pep Guardiola’s men, and on this kind of form with the ball, they are irresistible. Defensively, United posed a threat in the first half, which will be of some concern to City, but the energy and quality were simply too hot for their neighbours to handle.

Now six points ahead of Liverpool, albeit with one more game played than their rivals, Guardiola is only too aware that there will be more twists and turns to come. Paying respect to Jurgen Klopp, the Spaniard continues to have great trust in his group to see the job through.

“Normally success can give bad thoughts and you are confused, thinking like maybe you are like you are not.

“Still we are humble enough, every single training, every single game, to do it and do it again, and being there.

“After, you can win or you can lose, but after these guys have done many, many years, still being there, if at the end we are not able to do it, it’s because we have the toughest opponent I’ve ever faced in my 12, 13-year career as a manager.

“Liverpool in the last years are outstanding, and fighting with them and being with them, after a big success in domestic trophies and titles, is the biggest achievement I’ve had as a manager in my career.”

For United, they came up well short against their neighbours. Despite Jadon Sancho getting them back into proceedings, the goal was against the run of play when they were already getting overrun in midfield with City’s high tempo game.

In the second period, United never got started. They barely mounted an attack, and even with the double change of Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard, they still looked futile upfront, the polar opposite to what fans demand from a Manchester United team.

Maguire appears to be burdened by the captaincy at Old Trafford with an indifferent display on an afternoon that demanded more. He struggled with the movement of Foden and failed to react for City’s second goal when he should have cleared De Gea’s initial parry.

The centre-back paled in significance to his opposing skipper as he went into the book for a poor challenge in the second period when City threatened to riot. Maguire can be an asset to United, but there is a degree to which he has to be nurtured into consistent form and the role of captain.

World Cup winner Paul Pogba trudged off in the second period looking nonplussed when his teammates were being run into the ground. His showing epitomised the challenges that United faces. There has to be more than the admiration of his own passes. Scott McTominay was one of the few positives as he fought until the end, making some key challenges as City’s ruthlessness continued.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka had a torrid time up against Grealish and the former Palace defender set the tone for United’s dreadful second-half showing with two errors in consecutive moments that almost got Silva and De Bruyne in on goal.

Bruno Fernandes had a frustrating afternoon in a false nine position and had one of those afternoons where he was entirely out of luck. Despite Sancho’s goal, he struggled to make an impression, missing an arguably better chance just before the break that would have brought United level.

Ex-Manchester United and TV panellist Roy Keane was furious with their showing but manager Ralf Rangnick did not see it that way,

“I didn’t have the impression that they didn’t try but it is difficult against a team like Manchester City when you are 3-1 down against the best team probably in possession on the planet.

“We played a good first half but we were still 2-1 down so it was clear we still had to try and score one or two goals to have a chance to win the game. We didn’t.

“In the second half it was difficult to keep them away from our goal so we decided to bring on Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard – two offensive players – and then they scored a brilliant goal from a corner; it was difficult to defend that one.

“And then, after that, it was a difficult and frustrating game for us because if you chase them high up you risk conceding one, two, three more times.”

Out of possession, United struggled to contain City. Rangnick required a considerable effort from his players to keep up with the Champions’ slick play, but United were not up to competing for the majority of the game.

Whilst their season is far from over, having slipped out of the top four, looking disjointed and being thoroughly humiliated on a patch where they have salvaged some pride in recent years, the writing looks to be on the wall as another season of disappointment beckons.

The result confirmed the fears of many supporters that the club is in limbo. United are desperately in need of a restart to find an identity. The derby day result should now act as a catalyst despite the embarrassment. The undefeated run in the fixture has papered over the cracks in recent years, but there is no longer a place to hide.

Something has to change from within. Whilst spending power in the Premier League has never been a recipe for success, the Manchester United brand was once a lure for some of the world’s most talented players and they currently have little to offer for those most gifted with the ball to achieve success.

The summer now promises to be one of the biggest in recent times off the pitch. The approach from the top brass at the club has to be reconciled with long-standing traditions at Old Trafford. It is not going to be a quick fix and a billion pounds has already shown that an institution cannot be rebuilt the easy way.

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