Manchester City tramples on United in derby

MANCHESTER, England - Sergio Aguero scored twice as Manchester City outran, outmuscled and outclassed Manchester United in a 4-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday that exposed the Premier League champions’ weaknesses in all departments.

Aguero volleyed City ahead after 16 minutes and made it 3-0 in the opening minute of the second half after Yaya Toure had put the home side in command on the stroke of halftime.

United’s defense was sliced wide open again when Samir Nasri volleyed home after 50 minutes and manager David Moyes’ first Manchester derby descended into the realm of nightmares.

Wayne Rooney’s curling free kick was the only ray of sunshine for United, who have now lost four of the last five league derbies with City, who climbed to third in the table with 10 points, two behind leaders Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

“It was a very important result, normally you don’t expect to win 4-1 against Manchester United,” City manager Manuel Pellegrini said. “But (the) most important (thing) after that is the way we played.

Moyes, who could well deploy the kind of “hairdryer” treatment predecessor Alex Ferguson aimed at players after such poor performances, made no excuses for a woeful showing.

“We were second to things in the first half especially, we seemed to be a yard behind it,” he said. “We just never really got to the pitch of the game right from the off, which was disappointing because we had set out to do that.”

The big screen at the Etihad had showed a rerun of the goals from City’s 6-1 thrashing of United at Old Trafford two seasons ago, when the team from the blue side of the city went on to win the title, and those visions seemed to set the tone.

United had already started the day badly when striker Robin van Persie was ruled out with a groin strain and it got worse as last season’s runners-up trampled all over them from the start.

The hosts’ dominance was soon rewarded. Nasri shook off Chris Smalling down the left and his flick found Aleksandar Kolarov, whose accurate cross was deftly volleyed home by Aguero to send the home fans wild on a warm afternoon in Manchester.

City continued to dominate with center back Vincent Kompany easily keeping increasingly frustrated United striker Rooney at bay, Toure winning the physical battle of the midfield and their attackers playing with a hunger the visitors just did not have.

Having sealed the title in 2012 on goal difference from United, City knows only too well how important the winning margin can be and they turned the screw immediately.

United, who are eighth place with seven points, have faced Chelsea and bitter rivals Liverpool and City in their opening five games, picking up just one point in three matches. Reuters