Mitch Freeley

Match Report

Manchester United came from two goals down to crash their local rivals' title party with a spectacular 3-2 win on Saturday evening. A brace in the second half from Paul Pogba and a volleyed winner from Chris Smalling gave Mourinho's side a famous win over their bitter rivals. 

In truth, City should have been 4-0 up at half-time. Pep's side had been perfect in the first half and blew United away. With twenty-five minutes on the clock, the Citizens took the lead through captain Vincent Kompany who planted the ball past De Gea for the opening goal. The wild reaction from the City skipper showed just how much a title win over their local rivals meant to the Belgian defender. 

Five minutes later, City doubled their lead with a memorable moment of skill from İlkay Gündoğan. The German midfielder exchanged passes with Sterling before rolling Matic with a 360 turn and tucking the ball into the bottom corner. A magic moment, well worthy of sealing a league title. 

However Mourinho and United had other ideas and came out fighting in the second half, and two goals in 98 seconds from Paul Pogba changed the complexion of the contest. Exhibiting the kind of fight shown by United teams under Sir Alex Ferguson. First the much-maligned midfielder latched onto a chested knock-down from Ander Herrera, smashing the ball past Ederson to make it 2-1. Seconds later, United's record signing levelled the contest this time with a perfect header, from a clipped long-ball supplied by Sanchez.

The momentum was with United, who streamed forward in search of a winner. Again Sanchez clipped in a perfect free-kick, this time to find Smalling who had plenty of space in the City box. The United defender promptly stuck a boot out to side-foot the ball into the net and leave the away end in raptures. 

City tried to get back into the contest and seemed to be denied a penalty when substitute Sergio Aguero was bundled down in the box. However, United showed their defensive nouse to see out the contest and grab a memorable win. As for City their title celebrations are on hold but have a chance to win it at Wembley when they take on Spurs in a weeks time. 

Live Updates

Second Half

90+5 Full time! 3-2 United! What a game of football. Man United come back from two goals down to beat Man City! Pogba with a brace before Smalling gave United the win. Breathless stuff. 

90+3 Victor Lindelof for Herrera. Mourinho is looking very smug. 

90+2 Kompany & Jesus now pick up yellows. City have lost their cool. 

90- Danilo is in the book. yellow card. We have five minutes of extra time. 

88- City is desperate for an equaliser here. Aguero with a fine header, De Gea pulls off a stunning save to keep United in the lead. 

84- A sub for United. Scott McTominay replaces Jesse Lingard

81- Alexis Sanchez who has been fantastic leaves the pitch. Rashford replaces the Chilian 

80- Pogba picks up a yellow now. More frank exchanges! This derby is kicking off nicely! 

78- This is boiling over! Lingard gets crunched by Fernandino & Kompany. Some light pushing breaks out

77- Penalty for City!?Kevin De Bruyne plays through Aguero. Ashley Young  cracks into the tackle, Everyone is calling for a penalty. The referee waves it away! 

76- Dangerous free-kick for United here. City hacks it away. 

75- Sergio Aguero is getting involved. Gündoğan who scored a magical goal in the first half comes off. 

71- Here come the big guns! The Silva's (David & Bernardo) make way. Gabriel Jesus & Kevin De Bruyne join the party! 

68- GOAL! 3-2 UNITED?! Sanchez with a perfect dead-ball. Smalling is unmarked and side-foots the ball into the back of the net! Shambolic defending from City! The title celebrations are on hold. For now.  

66- In more substitute news, Mourinho is deep in discussion with Marcus Rashford. Just under 30 minutes to play! 

65- Close! Gündoğan cracks a free-kick just over the bar. Meanwhile, Aguero is warming up... Hello! 

64- Matic knocks down David Silva dangerous free-kick for City

63- Sterling picks up a yellow

58- This is shaping up to be a real humdinger. Sanchez grabs the ball, flashes a ball to Lingard his shot from distance skips wide.  

54- WOW! Goal!  Two goals in 98 Seconds! 2-2 Pogba again! Sanchez drifts in a perfect ball into the box. Pogba leaps and heads the ball into the bottom left-hand corner. The United fans are going crazy. The city fans are very quiet. 2-2. 

52- Goal! 2-1 United are back in this. Clipped ball into the box. Ander Herrera chests the ball into the path of Pogba, who finishes first time. Whisper it. United could be back in this. 

50- City clip the cross-bar! Sterling passes to Gündogan, his snap-shot grazes the bar. Close! 

48- Sharp passing from United. The ball gets to Pogba who is stationed just outside the box. His curling effort is saved by Ederson

47- Man United go on the front foot! Lukaku bares down on goal. Otamendi deflects the ball out for a corner. 

Peep! City is just 45 minutes away from the Premier League title! We are back underway in Manchester! 

First Half

45+1 PEEP! 2-0 Half-time! Now that was a half of football! City fantastic. A thumping header from Kompany and a sublime bit of skill from Gündoğan give the Citizens the edge. United looked hopeless, Mourinho will have to rouse his side at half-time if United are going to spoil this title party! 

45- One minute of extra time to be played! 

43- City are knocking the ball about with consummate ease, nothing is phasing them. Just a reminder they are playing the side who are second in the league at the minute. Scary! 

41- Third chance goes begging for Sterling. Sane picks out the City number 7. His tame shot is gathered up by De Gea

37- Yellow card for United. Ander Herrera gets in the book. 

36- Another guilt edged chance for Sterling! Silva squares the ball to the winger, again he blazes over. A little composure and City could have been out of sight.

35- United need to steady the ship. They have been shambolic in the last 5 minutes. 

33- It could have been 3-0 Sterling, baring down on goal, plenty of time to shoot. Perhaps too much time, he smashes his shot well over. 

30- GOAL! 2-0! What a finish by İlkay Gündoğan. Sterling rushes into the United area, he passes to Gündoğan who spins around Matic before drilling the ball into the bottom right side of the goal. A sublime moment of skill from the German! 2-0! 

29- The City fans are in full voice here! Over the (blue) moon! 

25- Goal! Kompany gives City the lead! What a goal from the captain! The corner is whipped in by Sane, Kompany beats Smalling and plants the ball into the goal. Understandably the Belgian defender goes crazy! Huge goal at a crucial time for the Citizens! 1-0! 

21-First chance of the match! it goes to City! Bernardo Silva (Who has been quiet so far) starts the move. He slips the ball to Sterling who returns the ball back with a deft through ball. It's just long, and Silva gets a boot to the ball, De Gea stops it with his feet.

19 City hunt in packs and grab the ball of Pogba. The ball is passed to David Silva. His shot from distance is high, wide and not very handsome. 

18- City are seeing plenty of the ball at the minute, United just content with pressing and keeping the pressure on. 

15- Sane dances down the left wing and picks out Fernandinho. The Brazilian panics and fires of a pass quickly. It goes straight into the arms of De Gea

12- Paul Pogba is bundled down in the City half. Dangerous Free-kick for United, Sanchez promptly wastes the chance, Ederson easily catches it

8- City is starting to boss possession here. 

5- Early penalty claim for City?! Silva drills a cross in, Ashley Young is falling down and the shot touches his hand as he attempts to head the ball away on the ground. The City players are screaming at the referee for a penalty. Sensibly their claims are waved away. Play on! 

4- Valencia bundles down Sane. That's going to be a tasty battle today. Free-kick United.

2- Plenty of early pushing from United in the early exchanges looking to close City down at every opportunity. Danielo has a pot-shot. Well over! 

Peep! United get us underway!

A warm round of applause for former Man United midfielder Ray Wilkins who passed away earlier in the week. Lovely to see. 

Preamble

Right! Teams are out on the pitch! A quick reminder (not that you need it) Man City can win the title with a victory over Man United! This is going to be interesting! As ever, you can watch all the action Live & Exclusive via beIN SPORTS CONNECT! 

Psst! Word to the wise! We have all the match reports up from the other Premier League games today! Have a little read here! 

Twenty minutes away from Kick-off! City has arrived a few hours ago, in case you missed it you can check it out in a handy gif form. I wonder if they are nervous? 

City in the area! 🔵 #cityvutd #mancity pic.twitter.com/EmlgwnArHd — Manchester City (@ManCity) April 7, 2018

  So it seems that United are going for it with that squad. 4-3-3 Pogba in midfield. The pressure is on. 

TEAM NEWS! SOUND THAT TEAM NEWS KLAXON! WE HAVE TEAM NEWS! 

Now for Manchester United! 

Two changes for United. Eric Bailly and Ander Herrera come back into the side. Rashford & Martial make the bench. 

Here's the team news, #MUFC fans!

This is how we line up for derby day. #MCIMUN pic.twitter.com/xJ5a9r28G9 — Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 7, 2018

First up the champions-elect! 

Four changes from the mid-week game.Raheem Sterling, Danilo, Fabian Delph and Bernardo Silva all come in. Whilst City has real quality on the bench to switch it up. Kevin de Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus, Aymeric Laporte and Kyle Walker along with a returning Sergio Aguero, scary! 

How we line-up in the 176th Manchester Derby! 🙌

City XI | Ederson, Danilo, Kompany (C), Otamendi, Delph, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Bernardo, Silva, Sane, Sterling

Subs | Bravo, Walker, Agüero, Laporte, De Bruyne, Jesus, Yaya Touré

Presented by @HaysWorldwide #cityvutd #mancity pic.twitter.com/8QoJ2CMkWh — Manchester City (@ManCity) April 7, 2018

It's a huge day if you are a City fan! I wonder if they can rally and win the title this evening! History beckons... 

History beckons... #cityvutd pic.twitter.com/zVqsgoJe2H — Manchester City (@ManCity) April 7, 2018

Hello! Welcome to the Live Updates for Man City Vs Manchester United. Can Pep's boys shake off the midweek humbling by Liverpool and claim the Premier League crown with a massive win over their cross-city rivals United? It'll certainly be an interesting encounter especially when the team-sheets come out in the next 20 minutes or so! As ever you can catch up on all the active Live on the go with beIN SPORTS CONNECT. 

Preview

Manchester City can wrap up the Premier League title in some style on Saturday evening when they welcome bitter rivals Manchester United to the Etihad on Saturday evening. As ever you can watch all the action Live & Exclusive via beIN SPORTS CONNECT. 

It’s only a matter of time for City to be crowned champions, however, Pep Guardiola may elect to rest some key players ahead of Tuesday night’s Champions League tie against Liverpool. Despite being 3-0 down from the first leg, City will be quietly confident of overturning the deficit and progressing to the semi-finals. 

Sergio Aguero is fit again after recovering from a knee injury, although it’s widely expected to be rested with Tuesday’s game in mind. City looked imperious when they took on United in the league back in October, with goals from David Silva & Nicolás Otamendi giving the Citizens a deserved 2-1 victory. 

English defender John Stones could be handed a start, having not played a part on Tuesday in the Champions League. The former Everton man is on the verge of winning his first-ever league title and could make a telling contribution defensively and in attack, the first-ever goal for City would do the defenders confidence the world of good heading into the business end of the season. 

As for Manchester United, Jose Mourinho will be looking to put off the title party off for at least another week. The Portuguese coach will certainly be content with a draw and be looking to stem the City attack which has been free-flowing this season. 

In team news, United are boosted by the return of defenders Phil Jones & Marcos Rojo who have trained all week. Both players are in contention to start. However, despite returning to training on Friday, the game comes too late for Daley Blind who is unlikely to take part. 

Speaking prior to the game Mourinho revealed that he intends to delay his rival’s title celebrations for at least one more week. "My motivation is to finish second. Mathematically [the] top four [is] not done. That is the first objective. After that, I don't hide."

It certainly promises to be an interesting tactical battle as Manchester City look to seal the title against Man United, who will be intent to shut down city and play on the break. As ever, you can watch all the action Live & Exclusive on beIN SPORTS CONNECT.