MANCHESTER CITY SCORES 4 GOALS TO 1, AGAINST CITY RIVALS MAN’ UNT. IN A DERBY TO MOVE UP 6 CLEAR POINTS ON TABLE.

Manchester City Extends Their Lead In The English Premier League

Manchester City got the better of their city rivals as they overcame Manchester United 4-1 in a ding-dong battle at the Etihad Stadium.

A brace from Kevin de Bruyne was separated by a Jadon Sancho equaliser, before Riyad Mahrez’s delightful volley wrapped up the three points, as Pep Guardiola gave Ralf Rangnick a sour first taste of a Manchester derby.

In a game where both sides had key absentees – Ruben Dias for the hosts and Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, Raphael Varane and Luke Shaw for the Red Devils – both sides showed attacking intent where it mattered as it let the encounter ebb and flow with great fervour.

Captain Fantastic de Bruyne opened the scoring on merely five minutes, slotting home after excellent work down the left by Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish, in what would become a constant thorn in the side of United. and more pertinently, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Victor Lindelof.

Sancho curled United level against his former club after an excellent break from the visitors, working the ball through Anthony Elanga, Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes before the £73 million man finished with great aplomb beyond Ederson.

Phil Foden saw a header clip the top of the bar two minutes before de Bruyne doubled his money, finishing off a melee in the box that originated yet again from the left-hand side, as Foden's flick and volley was saved brilliantly in the interim by David de Gea, Grealish's follow-up was blocked, and the Belgian was on hand to slide home a sumptuous second.
 It would get even better for the Sky Blues as their right-hand man Mahrez struck on 68 minutes with a gorgeous goal, De Bruyne the creator this time, clipping to the edge of the area for the Algerian to almost pass it home, via a deflection off Harry Maguire.

 Mahrez got his second of the day as VAR confirmed, compounding de Gea's misery, as the Spaniard hurt himself when clearing his lines, and ater initially disallowing the goal for a flag, the Algerian had cause to celebrate again as he made it four.

   United were brave in their approach, especially in the first half: a 4-2-2-2 shape that was fluid and tranistioned into a 4-2-3-1 saw Paul Pogba play as a central striker at times as his and Fernandes' "deep runs", as Guardiola puts it, gave the league leaders something to think about, but they were much the inferior side after the break.         City looked revitalised, with Grealish and De Bruyne at the fore of it.

  Another win for the crafty Catalan, and United's second half collapse will prove again a major concern for Rangnick as United lost ground in their top four race.