City continued to land several blows on United and eventually delivered a knockout one, after David de Gea produced a stunning save to deny Phil Foden, but United couldn’t clear their lines from the rebound and De Bruyne hammered home his second of the day to give City a HT lead. De Bruyne was aiming to become the first City player to score a hat-trick in a Manchester Derby in over 50-years, and he almost became a history maker but for a smart de Gea stop from the Belgian’s free-kick. Whilst not netting the third, De Bruyne certainly played his part in the third, finding Riyad Mahrez on the edge of the area who fired home on the half-volley to essentially place the game beyond United.
It was all about control from then on in for City, who knocked the ball about with consummate ease, and finished off a resounding victory in stoppage time through Mahrez following a lengthy VAR check. It’s a potential banana skin negotiated for Pep Guardiola as he goes in search of masterminding yet another PL title success, who has lost more home games against Manchester United than any other opponent in his career. Whilst for United, defeat tallied with an Arsenal victory this afternoon sees them slip out of the top-four and with work to do to avoid missing out on Champions League football next season.
