GREALISH BENCHED
JACK Grealish has started nearly every game for City since his £100m move from Aston Villa but for the derby he had to settle for a place on the bench as Phil Foden took his place.
Pep Guardiola provided some rare insight for a pre-match interview by explaining that he wanted a left-footer on that wing, and in the end he got two as Joao Cancelo used his left peg to swing in the ball that Eric Bailly sliced into his own net.
Grealish will obviously come back into the team but this match has been his first real lesson at City that the team is flooded with players that are capable of moving ahead of him at a moment’s notice.
CANCELO GETS BETTER AND BETTER
IT feels like Cancelo is talked about all the time at the moment, but he keeps getting better.
As if he wasn’t dangerous enough on his right foot, the rightback swung in a delicious cross on his left for the opening goal. There was a hesitation before he hit it, as if he wasn’t certain it was the right decision, but the gamble paid off in a big way.
Cancelo is the only player to start all 11 of City’s league games this season – even Ruben Dias can’t match that after his marathon efforts last year – and showed again why he is so essential to Guardiola’s team.
Left-back has been a sore spot for supporters for years as the club have failed to invest in the position since 2017, but with the 27-year-old in such terrific form those calls for a signing have disappeared.
IN THE TITLE RACE
IF this game confirmed that City won’t be battling it out with United for the title this season, it also suggested that Manchester will at least have representation in the fight.
Defeat to Palace had left the Blues five points behind leaders Chelsea and they had also failed to capitalise on Brighton’s draw with Liverpool, but this performance and result inserted them firmly into the bracket of contenders as they showed that they will more often than not pick up three points against most teams in the Premier League.
CLEAN SHEET
CITY slackened off in the second half, playing the entire 45 minutes as if they were just going through the motions before they hop onto their respective plans for international duty.
United were so poor that they were hardly troubled, yet City’s failure to keep the ball high up the pitch as they had done in the first half meant more pressure on a defence that had fallen in standards in recent matches.
Promisingly, the backfive held out with John Stones looking like he had never been away as he resumed the partnership with Ruben Dias that took them to the title last season.
The poor quality of the opposition has to be taken into account, but it was promising to see City keep their stability even when they stopped trying to slice United open so often.