De Bruyne the difference maker as City claim bragging rights
Kevin De Bruyne was named WhoScored.com’s man of the match with a rating of 8.95 as Manchester City secured a 2-1 win over Manchester United in the season’s first Manchester Derby of the season.
Expectations were high coming into the match up as Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola resumed rivalries in Saturday’s early kick off.
However, the fireworks were left on the pitch this time as both as the Premier League’s first big game of the campaign lived up to its billing.
De Bruyne opened the scoring for City with just 15 minutes on the clock as he calmly slotted past David De Gea following Kelechi Iheanacho’s knock on.
The Belgian was involved for City’s second as his shot hit the post before being tapped into an empty net by Iheanacho to double the Sky Blues’ advantage.
United pulled one back before half time after debutant Claudio Bravo fumbled a high Wayne Rooney cross into the path of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who promptly volleyed excellently past the Chilean to half the deficit.
Mourinho did what he could to drag United back into the tie, bringing on Ander Herrera and Marcus Rashford for the ineffective Jesse Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan at the interval.
The England international made an immediate impact, completing two dribbles in the space of three second half minutes as the teenage striker looked to force the issue for the hosts.
Rashford thought he had drawn United level in the second half, but his effort took a deflection off Ibrahimovic on the way past Bravo, with the Swedish striker rightly flagged for offside.
Indeed, United huffed and puffed to net a crucial second, but were unable to add to Ibrahimovic’s first half strike as City secured the spoils and bragging rights.
De Bruyne was a constant threat throughout his time on the pitch and had his teammates sported their scoring boots, could easily have had a greater impact as he played more key passes (6) than any other player in the fixture.
