United spoil City party
Win Manchester derby to keep their rivals waiting for title
Manchester ( England), April 8: Manchester City collapsed to Manchester United to lose 2- 3 and missed out on securing the English Premier League in record time on Saturday.
City shredded United apart in the first half, with Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan scoring in a six- minute span, but the celebrations inside Etihad Stadium were premature.
United, who didn’t manage a shot on target in the first half, were transformed after the break — netting three times.
Inevitably, 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.
And Chris Smalling, so fragile in the United defence in the first half, came through with the winner in the 69th minute when he was left unmarked to meet Alexis Sanchez’s free kick.
For City, who 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.
It’s in City’s DNA to do things the hard way. Both the 2012 and 2014 Premier League titles were won on the final day of the season, the first with a stoppagetime goal.
Not even the home fans who bemoaned “Typical City” during their decades in the shadows of United — even slipping to the third tier at the end of the last century — could have imagined at halftime on Saturday they could mess up as badly as they did.
However sweet it would have been to become champions with their greatest rivals — and record 20- time English champions — on the same pitch.