Champions fight back in style to keep up pressure on Liverpool

At least it was not another abject humiliation. That was the crumb of comfort from the Manchester United point of view.

- David Hytner

In four of the previous six derbies - and that did not include the FA Cup final at the end of last season, which Manchester City won 2-1 - United had been taken apart in grisly fashion. Their supporters even had the thrill of seeing Marcus Rashford blast them into an early lead with a furious long-range drive.

It was still another defeat, another occasion when the gap to the top was mapped out in painful detail - as it was always likely to be. United's ambition was limited to battling to stay compact and trying to nick something on the counterattack. It is plainly not what United should be about and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the new minority owner, knows it.

His timeframe for knocking City and Liverpool off their perch within three years will have to be revised on this evidence, and it was another one of his recent soundbites that resonated yesterday - the one about the "complete misery and frustration" of being a United fan since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013.

City reeled United in; there was an inevitability to it as they began an important month with the result they needed to answer Liverpool's win at Nottingham Forest on Saturday. It was Phil Foden who made the difference. The midfielder scored twice, the first a hit to rival that of Rashford, the second a composed finish for 2-1 that took him to 18 goals for the season; a career best. Yet it was the little details, too, such as him tracking back to rob Antony late on, which had Pep Guardiola applauding wildly. Foden was on another level.