Aftermath of Manchester Derby: 'Liverpool looked to Man Utd for a favour - they looked in the wrong place'

Manchester United fell by two goals to nil to neighbours Manchester City inside the Old Trafford

Manchester City made 'The Theatre Of Dreams' a house of pain for Manchester United as they brutally demonstrated the gulf between a modern, upwardly mobile club and one in a state of disrepair.


Old Trafford's leaking roof, the result of a pre-match thunderstorm, was almost symbolic of the current condition of United as City - once airily dismissed as "the noisy neighbours" by Sir Alex Ferguson - brutally emphasised their vast superiority with a punishing performance to take a measure of control in the Premier League title race.

City's 2-0 victory margin barely scratches at how much better they were than United. It means they are now a point ahead of second-placed Liverpool and know three wins from their last three games will retain their title. At the final whistle, Old Trafford was awash with vast red spaces created by empty seats while City's fans celebrated a win of great significance. The most stark and harrowing aspect of a win Guardiola celebrated after much technical area agonising - crouching, kneeling, imploring, demanding - was the sheer measure of how far apart these two teams, two clubs, are. Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer demanded a reaction from United's players after their 4-0 mauling at Everton on Sunday - he got one of sorts in that it was not as bad as the Goodison Park fiasco, but for him to claim the response was "great" was killing these players with kindness.

Marcus Rashford was off message - and correct - when he said: "We didn't play like Manchester United. It's not right." Solskjaer said: "We have to work harder and have a better attitude than anyone else." Fine words, but the bottom line is Solskjaer needs better players and United need a better, more focused strategy to buy the right players because this is currently a mess. Paul Pogba felt the ire of some supporters for his poor performance. It is actually hard to fathom how Pogba can seriously attract interest from the likes of Real Madrid when he regularly fails to make an impact. If he did leave, would he even be missed?

It was another awful night for the Spain international, goalie David De Gea, beaten at his near post by Silva and flimsy for Sane's second. A pattern is emerging after errors against Barcelona and Everton in the past seven days.

Liverpool looked in the unlikely direction of old foes United for a favour in pursuit of their first title in 29 years. They looked in the wrong place.

United were not good enough to help them and City were too good to slip up.BBC