Manchester City have returned to the top of the Premier League table courtesy of a 3-1 victory over local rivals Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium.
David Silva opened the scoring for the champions early on, but City failed to build on that advantage until the opening exchanges of the second half when Sergio Aguero made it 2-0.
Anthony Martial pulled a goal back from the penalty spot shortly before the hour mark, but Ilkay Gundogan came off the bench to secure the points for City as they extended their unbeaten start to the campaign to 12 matches.
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City had dropped down the table as a result of Liverpool’s win over Fulham earlier in the day, but they quickly set about restoring their place at the top of the standings as United made another slow start to the match.
The home side enjoyed 87% of possession in the opening 10 minutes and almost broke the deadlock on a few occasions early on, with both Bernardo Silva and Fernandinho missing the target from range and Aguero missing the ball entirely when well placed inside the area.
There was an air of inevitability when the first goal did arrive after only 12 minutes, with Raheem Sterling’s dangerous delivery being knocked back across goal by Bernardo for David Silva, who kept his composure before firing a deflected effort past David de Gea.
It was the seventh time in 12 Premier League games this season that United have conceded the first goal, and City initially looked more than capable of adding to their advantage sooner rather than later.
However, United did begin to settle into the game and created their best opening of the first half after 26 minutes when Chris Smalling sent a looping header onto the roof of the net.
City continued to enjoy the lion’s share of possession, but they struggled to translate that into chances and were limited to a long-range Aymeric Laporte shot and an Aguero half-chance from a tight angle for the remainder of the half.
