Guardiola beats Mourinho in derby

The narrative heading into the Manchester derby was about two of the best head coaches in world football, not two of the world's biggest clubs.

Few command as much respect in football as Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho, but when they lock horns it's always a sight to behold. In Spain it was chess, with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as kings, but in England it's evolved into all-out warfare and Manchester is the battleground.

The pace of the Premier League has brought an interesting aspect to the rivalry - one which Guardiola leads with seven wins in 16 meetings - and Old Trafford witnessed a similar outcome as the suave Spaniard extended his dominance over Mourinho.

After an expensive summer, victory was a vital statement for City's claim to the Premier League title. United were left in Guardiola's wake as Kevin De Bruyne and Kelechi Iheanacho gave City a two-goal lead.

Daley Blind was caught napping for both losing possession for the first goal and then playing Iheanacho onside for the second. In truth, it was nothing more than City deserved in a commanding first-half display.

However, United were fortunate enough to head into the halftime break with a goal as Claudio Bravo flapped, leaving Zlatan Ibrahimovic to pick up the rebound. Despite Guardiola saying otherwise, Bravo was far from convincing on his debut and Joe Hart must have been watching on curiously.

Changes at halftime proved to be the real difference for United as Mourinho attempted to stop Kevin de Bruyne from flexing his muscles. But United couldn't get to grips with a player Mourinho rendered useless during his tenure at Chelsea.

The introduction of Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera helped United establish a foothold in the match as they sought an equalizer. Rashford thought he had provided just that twenty minutes from time, but the linesman spotted the smallest of deflections from the offside Ibrahimovic.

Aside from that, though, City did well to weather a late storm from the Red Devils. For Guardiola, it's another win against Mourinho but also a win for the blue side of Manchester and in his quest for glory, that's no bad thing.