WATCH: Man City Beats Man United in Derby, Goes Back Atop Premier League
The Manchester derby was rife with ramifications for both the red and blue sides of the city, and it's the latter walking away happy after a tense affair at Old Trafford.
Second-half goals from Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sane carried Man City to a 2-0 win over Man United Wednesday, sending Pep Guardiola's side back to the top of the Premier League table by a point over Liverpool with three matches remaining in the season. The loss is a blow for Man United and its top-four hopes, though the club was helped by Wolves' 3-1 win over Arsenal on Wednesday. The Red Devils have a six-pointer vs. Chelsea on the horizon this weekend, which becomes a must-win given the limited amount of games to go.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer opted for an unorthodox lineup, bringing the seldom used Matteo Darmian into a five-man defense, with the hopes of stifling Man City's dynamic attack.
The opening minutes saw Man City having the better of the ball, with Man United looking to break in behind, trying to use Marcus Rashford's pace against the veteran Vincent Kompany. Rashford coaxed the veteran center back into a yellow card just 10 minutes in, with the Belgian forced to foul to prevent United's forward from breaking forward with a head of steam.
David De Gea was first called into action in the 15th minute, keeping a ball out that came off the leg of a teammate. Raheem Sterling got the ball to his favored right foot and tried to put a low chance on frame, but Chris Smalling was able to redirect it by extending his right leg. That forced De Gea to act quickly, which he did, to make a diving save and prevent the own goal.
Man United's first chance came a minute late, with Paul Pogba picking out Jesse Lingard with a gorgeous ball from the right. The English forward's attempt to volley home a stunner from a right-sided angle missed wide of the far post, though, keeping things 0-0 as action began to pick up.
The end-to-end play continued in the coming minutes. Bernardo Silva launched a rocket that De Gea parried away, sparking an immediate counterattack the other way. It wound up with Ederson racing off his line to prevent Rashford from reaching Lingard's throughball, with the Man City goalkeeper coming up with a clean challenge to clear the danger.
City nearly broke through in the 44th minute, working well within tight spaces inside the United box. The sequence wound up with Sterling trying to have a go from close range, though he couldn't get full power on the shot. It wound up falling fortuitously into De Gea's lap, keeping the match scoreless as it went to halftime.
Man City came out aggressively to start the second half, and it was rewarded for its efforts in the 54th minute. The opening goal came from Bernardo Silva, who took a pass from Ilkay Gundogan and beat De Gea to his near post with a low, left-footed chance for his seventh league goal of the season.
After Sergio Aguero narrowly missed doubling the lead with a powerful right-footed attempt, Man United had a chance to answer on a bit of a fluke play, with a wayward defensive touch looping toward Rashford on the end line. He crossed to the back post for Lingard, who whiffed on the chance to volley into a vacated net, while under pressure from a flailing, aerial challenge by Kompany.
Man City wound up doubling its advantage in the 66th minute through the substitute Sane. On in place for the hobbled Fernandinho, the German winger brought another element of dynamism to City's attack, and he made it count after taking a pass from Sterling. He beat De Gea to the near post with a powerful shot, which ricocheted off the goalkeeper and in to make it 2-0.
Man City saw the match out from there, with Sane's goal completely deflating what spirit Man United had left and ultimately sending the club to a fourth Premier League defeat in its last six matches. City, meanwhile, has won its last 11 league games and knows that if it can run that number to 14, it will successfully defend its title.
Here were the starting lineups for both sides:
Both teams return to action on Sunday, with Man City hitting the road to face Burnley, while Man United faces another crucial battle for top-four positioning when it hosts Chelsea.
