Man City 0-2 Man Utd: Red Devils end City’s winning streak with spectacular derby

Manchester City’s 21-game winning streak ended their bitter rivals as Manchester United secured a well-deserved 2-0 win at the Etihad.

The match got off to a flying start as United received a penalty after just 34 seconds when Gabriel Jesus awkwardly dropped Anthony Martial in the area.

And Bruno Fernandes hit the resulting penalty to give his team the perfect start.

Luke Shaw was the unlikely hero, doubling the lead shortly after halftime with a low left-footed shot to stun City.

Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling missed great opportunities to answer for the hosts, and United remained 11 points behind the Premier League leaders.

Here are five talking points from Sunday’s entertaining clash …

Man Utd makes a great statement

It may have been too late to make a difference in the title race, but there is no question that this was a great victory for United.

After a series of boring and overly conservative encounters against their ‘Big Six’ rivals this season, United’s swift counterattack put City on the sword this afternoon as they showed what they can do.

And if anything is to give Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team confidence in the future, ending his bitter enemy’s impressive winning run in his own backyard will suffice.

This victory will give United the belief that in their day they can beat anyone, and if anything can make them regret not having shown so much ambition in other meetings this season.

If they had, the title race could have really been alive at this point.

Maybe next season …

Super Shaw’s rebirth continues

Has a player ever improved as much in such a short time as Shaw?

The United left-back appeared to be in danger of becoming one of those who would never truly reach his talents at a not-too-distant past stage.

But alongside Fernandes, he has been comfortably United’s best player this season, putting on another wonderful display this afternoon.

As well as nullifying the City threat, he also showed off his attacking ability and was rewarded for a brilliant run with a goal at a crucial moment after his good shot beat Ederson shortly after halftime.

After his struggles with players like José Mourinho, it would be difficult to find someone who would envy Shaw for his current success, and I hope he continues with England in the European Championship.

Henderson makes the most of the opportunity

With David de Gea on paternity leave, Dean Henderson had a great opportunity to make a big statement in the battle for United’s No. 1 jersey.

After keeping a clean sheet in his last four straight appearances, England’s stopper was superb again today, oozing confidence on all four of his backs and calmly dealing with whatever City threw at him.

De Gea is expected to be absent for a while longer, but the way things are going, Solskjaer would be foolish to call him into the starting eleven, with Henderson barely taking a wrong step every time he’s been called up this season.

And if he continues to shine in the weeks ahead, it could be a long way back for De Gea.

The strange display of the city

This was nothing like the ruthless and unforgiving city we’ve grown used to over the past few months.

As good as United was, Pep Guardiola’s team just didn’t look at it, and it never seemed to recover from the surprising start of the Red Devils.

After such a remarkable winning streak, it’s hard to criticize City too much, and they should still win the league comfortably.

But it will be intriguing to see if this plants seeds of doubt in the team as they pursue an unprecedented quadruple.

Most, however, would simply dismiss it as one of those days, and you fear for Southampton’s defense when City are next in action on Wednesday as they look to unleash their fury.

De Bruyne human after all

We’ve gotten lyrical about Kevin De Bruyne and his sensational performances for City on numerous occasions recently.

This afternoon he took a rare day off, however, to show that even the best of them can suck the place from time to time.

Time and again, the Belgian playmaker’s passing attempts were diverted, and he seemed to give the ball away far more often than to do something useful with it.

De Bruyne is still recovering his physical form after an injury break and has not yet returned to his rhythm since returning.

And while City have more than enough quality to cope with their loss of form, it is still an unusual sight to see De Bruyne playing so poorly.