"?Pep Guardiola drew first blood over opposite number Jose Mourinho in the opening Manchester derby of the season on Saturday afternoon, as City beat the Reds 2-1 at Old Trafford.
Kevin de Bruyne's stunning performance stole the show as Guardiola's possession methods got the better of his old adversary once more, with the Belgian and Kelechi Iheanacho's first half strikes sealing the win. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's reply was not enough for the hosts in the end.
Pep Guardiola is the first Manchester City manager in history to win his first 6 games in charge of the club. pic.twitter.com/QNfvLxjMWw
It was a clash of such magnitude, with so many sub-plots. Mourinho's rivalry with Guardiola had been somewhat overplayed in the press in the lead up to the game, but it's no wonder why. Both are among the best managers in the world, and share a well-documented history of friends turned enemies.
Ibrahimovic has made no secret of his dislike for the City manager either, so there was that to watch out for too. But one overlooked past story reared its head again in the opening 40 minutes. It was, quite literally, the Kevin de Bruyne show.
This was a man sold by Mourinho just a matter of years ago, while both were at Chelsea. But the Belgian took very little time to remind his former boss of the qualities he'd ignored. City took the box seat almost straight away, with their most expensive signing in history running the show between the lines.
As expected, City took possession for a large part of the first half. And they ran United ragged. It was chasing shadows at times, but ironically, the opening goal - through De Bruyne - came as the result of a long ball. Iheanacho's flick-on fell into his path, and he nicked the ball past a stationery Daley Blind and dispatched with ease past David de Gea.
It was no more than they deserved, and the match, by the seems, was there for the taking. City starved their neighbours of the ball and starved them of breath as a result. De Bruyne's influence - if it was even possible - continued to grow, and it was his shot that led to his side's second.
De Bruyne jinked on the right side of the box and shot across goal. The ball rattled the post and fell into the path of Iheanacho, who couldn't miss. In the battle of the managers, there was only one winner at this point. That was, until a ray of hope shone upon Old Trafford.
It came in the form of debutant Claudio Bravo. Publicly welcomed to the club as Joe Hart's replacement after the England goalkeeper was shunted out to Torino last month, it was a fairly anonymous opening 40 minutes for him - such was his team's dominance.
That was until he dropped a Wayne Rooney free kick and Ibrahimovic volleyed home as the ball dropped. Bravo was stunned, United wheeled off in celebration. It shouldn't have been so, but United had their lifeline as the half time whistle came, and a bit of a break after a half of being taught how to play football.
Not the greatest debut for Claudio Bravo so far. pic.twitter.com/zknHAuP5BU
Mourinho, though, changed things at the interval. Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera were introduced, and the boy wonder showed his class with his first run down the left side within a minute of coming on. It amounted to nothing, but it was a sign of things to come.
What was to come was scintillating, breathless, end-to-end, Premier League football. Not even Pep Guardiola can avoid it. United had their tails up for the opening 20 minutes-or-so of the second period, punching their rivals to the ropes.
A big moment of contention came as Bravo and Rooney lunged in for the ball in the box early on. Nothing was given, but replays showed the Chilean lunged in, studs up, on the England captain. United had a case, but not a decision.
For all their pressure and signals that City would be wilting, United didn't make enough clear-cut chances to trouble their neighbours. That was until Rashford picked up the ball down the left side mid-way through the half, cut inside and smashed the ball into the net - only for it to be ruled out for offside following an Ibrahimovic deflection.
City, eventually, took their breath back, and recomposed themselves. Guardiola opted to play on the counter attack as United chased a goal, and had a deluge of chances to finish them off. The closest they came was through De Bruyne, whose shot to the near post deflected off the inside, across the line and away.
Both teams appeared to have ground themselves to a halt in the latter stages, and United didn't have enough in the tank to maintain enough of a threat. In the end, City held on, and maintained their 100% record at the top of the league.
Today's team for the Manchester derby... #MUNMCI pic.twitter.com/JDJbfCAoN9
CITY XI | Bravo, Sagna, Otamendi, Stones, Kolarov, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Silva (C), Sterling, Nolito, Iheanacho #utdvcity #mcfc
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