Manchester City beat Manchester United in the Manchester derby on Saturday.
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Guardiola greeted Mourinho with a handshake and a hug before kickoff.
The Belgian then turned provider for the second when his low, diagonal shot bounced back off the post for Iheanacho to tap home.
Clearances were where he really shone, posting nine effective clearances, the most of any Manchester City player, as well as three effective headed clearances, the joint-second most of City’s stars.
“It feels very good”, he told Sky Sports.
“But I did at half-time, we changed the direction of the game but we didn’t get the compensation I think we deserved in the second half”. “I wonder if Joe Hart’s smiling in Turin”.
For much of the first half, City’s slick passing and neat movement brought back memories of the way Guardiola’s old Barcelona side would once often pass rings round Mourinho’s Real Madrid.
De Bruyne still showed glimpses of class in his injury-hit 2015/16 season, and on Saturday at Old Trafford, the Belgian was the best player on the pitch by some distance.
He drifted in between both areas, picking up the ball in space and releasing it before the United defence had a chance to regain shape, and in a team that loves the ball and is likely to come up against a few parked buses, De Bruyne’s quick-thinking is invaluable.
Mourinho mixed things up for the second half, throwing on Marcus Rashford, Ander Herrera and later Anthony Martial and taking a more direct approach in search of an equalizer, but City still looked more unsafe on the counter-attack and De Bruyne almost restored the two-goal cushion when he ran onto Leroy Sane’s pass and shot against the inside of the post.
Meanwhile, Iheanacho, deputising for the suspended Sergio Aguero, gave a good account of himself on his first start for City this season, after being used as a substitute against Sunderland and Stoke. Would Leroy Sane get the nod?
And the visitors managed to hold on as they kept United at bay after the break to inflict the Red Devils’ first Premier League defeat under Jose Mourinho. “Some of the boys, they felt the dimension of the game”. Mourinho complaining about the officials, penalties and red cards was just him being unable to say anything that criticizes his own decisions.
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It was an unexpected foothold for the hosts and they finished the first half strongly. It’s their fault? It’s my fault?
