Gaal bullish after derby win

MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM: Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal proclaimed that his side were once again the biggest team in the city after they overwhelmed Manchester City 4-2 in the derby.

City had won the four previous encounters between the teams, drubbing United 4-1 and 3-0 last season en route to the title, but that sequence came to a juddering halt at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Victory, five months on from a 1-0 loss in the reverse fixture, left United four points clear of City in third place in the Premier League, prompting Van Gaal to assert that his men had reclaimed the Manchester throne.

“We are at this moment four points ahead, so that is a fact,” he said when asked if United were once again the dominant team in the city. “You are playing for the fans and at the beginning of the season it was not so fantastic to be a United fan, because we have started 11 matches with 13 points and still they have supported us.

“And now, this week especially, they can go on the streets, hat up, and say, ‘We are this year the better team, because goal average is in our favour (over the two derby games).’”

Just as they had done in last season’s 3-0 win at Old Trafford, City started briskly and took the lead in the eighth minute when David Silva teed up Sergio Aguero for a tap-in.

But United stormed back with goals from Ashley Young, Marouane Fellaini, Juan Mata and Chris Smalling, before Aguero claimed his second goal — and 100th in City’s colours — at the death. Young and Fellaini, much maligned under Van Gaal’s predecessor David Moyes, have been instrumental to United’s current run of six straight league wins and the Dutchman hailed both players’ contributions.

As well as scoring, from an Ander Herrera cross, Young set up headed goals for Fellaini and Smalling, prompting Van Gaal to describe his performance as “fantastic”.