A brace each from Kevin de Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez got Manchester City the win – and the bragging rights – over rivals Manchester United. Elsewhere, Arsenal climbed to fourth with a win over a relegation-threatened Watford.
A night Manchester United relinquished the city’s bragging rights and a lucrative top-four spot, they began by forfeiting the lead to their cross-town rivals. Manchester City found themselves in front five minutes into the derby through captain Kevin de Bruyne, who smashed the ball into the net from close range following some dubious defending by the opposition.
But, capping off their most productive of periods on derby day, United leveled the game in the 22nd minute through Jadon Sancho. The former City youth product raced onto a through ball by Paul Pogba, used Bruno Fernandes’s run on the outside as a decoy, and cut inside before curling the ball around Ederson from just outside the box. Parity was restored, albeit only for six minutes, as De Bruyne scored his second at the other end, capitalizing again on the Red Devils’ failure to defend a ball into their box.
Riyad Mahrez’s wonderful volleyed effort, directly from a De Bruyne corner, put some distance between the two teams – City 3-1 up with less than half-hour remaining. The Algerian would add another after a lengthy VAR check in the 91st minute, with City compounding their rivals’ humiliation with another dominant derby win.
Before United had even had a chance to defend their spot on the table, Arsenal leapfrogged them with a win over Watford. The Gunners avoided an early scare as Emmanuel Dennis slotted the ball into the net – 17 seconds after kick-off – but was called back by the VAR for doing so from a marginally offside position. Meanwhile, Martin Odegaard gave the North Londoners the lead in the fifth minute, finishing off a brilliant move.
Cucho Hernandez’s acrobatic effort at the other end restored parity with 11 minutes gone, but Bukayo Saka responded in kind with another magnificent goal as the clock showed half-hour played. Gabriel Martinelli put Arsenal 3-1 up on the other side of the interval, once again, with a sensational strike from outside the box – and the Gunners were cruising.
But their period of dominance gave way for a nervous ending, as Moussa Sissoko pulled one back for Watford in the 87th minute, but it fell short of sparking a late comeback, and Mikel Arteta’s men held onto the precious three points.
