Manchester City thumped their city rivals Manchester United 4-1 at the Etihad to move six points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
A pair of goals from Kevin de Bruyne on either side of Jadon Sancho’s equalizer and a Riyad Mahrez second-half brace ensured an emphatic win for the Cityzens at their home ground.
Man City wasted little time in opening the scoring. Kevin de Bruyne calmly finished a slick passing move past David De Gea from a Bernardo Silva cutback with just five minutes on the clock.
Jadon Sancho, a product of City’s academy, drew the Red Devils level in the 22nd minute. A neat sequence of passes caught City’s backline out and Sancho curled a right-footed shot past Ederson to make it 1-1.
The hosts retook the lead soon after when De Bruyne netted his second of the game following a poor United giveaway that led to a scramble in front of De Gea to give Guardiola’s side a 2-1 advantage at the half.
City stamped their authority further in the second half, playing keep ball and threatening United’s goal at will.
De Bruyne turned provider for a deserved third goal for Man City from a corner kick. A beautifully floated ball fell to Mahrez at the top of the penalty area and the Algerian smashed a half-volley home to give City a two-goal cushion.
Mahrez added his second goal of the game in stoppage time. His effort past De Gea was initially flagged offside, but VAR found that Alex Telles had played the City attacker onside before he latched on to an Ilkay Gundogan pass and shot over the shoulder of United’s keeper from a tight angle.
Man City return to Champions League action on Wednesday, taking a 5-0 aggregate lead into a round-of-16 second-leg match against Sporting CP, while Rangnick’s side, who dropped down to fifth place after the result, won’t play again until a Saturday Premier League test against Tottenham Hotspur.
City have accumulated 69 points from 28 games to sit atop the Premier League table while Liverpool remains second on 63 points from 27 matches after their win over West Ham earlier.
