Pep Guardiola Wins Manchester Derby

Pep Guardiola rocked old foe Jose Mourinho as Premier League leaders Manchester City extended their perfect start with a 2-1 win at Manchester United, while Liverpool crushed champions Leicester 4-1 on Saturday.

City manager Guardiola inflicted the first defeat of Mourinho’s United reign and collected his eighth win in 17 encounters with his nemesis in a pulsating encounter at Old Trafford.

Guardiola’s side took the lead in a sweet moment of revenge for Kevin De Bruyne, acrimoniously sold by Mourinho when the pair were together at Chelsea, as the Belgium midfielder punished Daley Blind’s uncertainty to slot past David de Gea in the 15th minute.

Kelechi Iheanacho doubled City’s lead in the 36th minute when he tapped in after a De Bruyne shot hit the post and rebounded to the Nigeria forward.

A blunder from City’s debutant goalkeeper Claudio Bravo allowed United to reduce the deficit in the 42nd minute when he dropped a cross and Zlatan Ibrahimovic pounced to lash home.

But City held firm in a frantic second-half despite more nervous moments from Bravo, whose studs-up lunge on Wayne Rooney could have drawn a penalty and a red card.

Guardiola has now masterminded four successive Premier League wins since arriving from Bayern Munich in the close season and his team sit three points clear of third-placed United and second-placed Chelsea, who travel to Swansea on Sunday.

“We’re happy. These guys have a heart. In the first-half we were better and won a lot of duels against a physically stronger team,” Guardiola said.

“In the second-half, the long balls, you just pray because it’s almost impossible to control that.”

Mourinho added: “I had two or three players in the first-half that, if I know what is going to happen, I don’t play them.

“This is football and sometimes players disappoint managers. It’s my fault because I’m the manager.”