Party kept on hold as United stuns City

MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City collapsed to lose 3-2 against local rival Manchester United on Saturday, missing out on securing the English Premier League in record time.

City shredded United in the first half, with Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan scoring in a six-minute span, but the celebrations inside City’s Etihad Stadium were premature.

United, which didn’t manage a shot on target in the first half, was transformed after the break — netting three times. The goals that drew United level came twice in two minutes from Paul Pogba — a day after City manager Pep Guardiola claimed he was offered the chance to sign the Frenchman in the January transfer window.

Chris Smalling, so fragile in the United defence in the first half, scored the winner in the 69th minute when he was left unmarked to meet Alexis Sanchez’s free kick. For City, which had previously lost only once in the league this season at Liverpool, it was a first home defeat since December 2016.

United reduced City’s lead only to 13 points. But with six games remaining to complete the job, it seems inevitable City will win the title for the third time since 2012. It will happen next weekend only if City wins at Tottenham on Saturday and United loses to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

“This is tough mentally,” Guardiola said. “We are sad for ourselves, for our fans.”

It emerged that United boss Jose Mourinho had a simple warning to his United players in the dressing room at halftime. “He said that we didn’t want to be the clowns standing there watching them get their title,” Smalling said. BERLIN — Bayern Munich’s unstoppable march to the German championship ended on Saturday when it won 4-1 at Augsburg, underlining its dominance of the Bundesliga with a recordextending sixth successive championship. Bayern won the title with five games to spare.