Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was reasonably pleased with a deserved derby victory that left Manchester United counterpart Jose Mourinho clinging onto the positives.
David Silvaâs early goal was added to by Sergio Aguero just minutes into the second half, only for Anthony Martial to reduce the deficit from the spot and bring back memories of Unitedâs famous comeback in April.
But Mourinhoâs men were unable to stave off defeat at the Etihad Stadium, where substitute Ilkay Gundogan wrapped up a 3-1 win.
âFirst half not so good,â Guardiola said. âWe played like âI donât want to lose the ball but not the intention to attack or to do somethingâ.
âI feel when I watch my players, a team that feel a little bit the pressure. They want to do well in the derby. Thatâs normal.
âDespite of that, we were stable, we score one goal, the first 15 minutes was so good and after that we didnât press so well.
âThey could play more than usual but the second half we start from the beginning much, much better.
âWe change the way we press (Victor) Lindelof and (Chris) Smalling, and of course the goal helped us lot from Sergio.
âAfter we concede one goal, it is inevitable to think about last season (Unitedâs 3-2 comeback win) what happened again in that situation.
âBut we didnât concede one other chance, we defend so well.
âThe free-kicks, they are so strong more than us, and especially when Gundogan and Raheem (Sterling) go in positions like striker, we had extra passes and play so good.
âThe last 30 minutes, we made a very, very good game.â
As for the tension at the end when Sterling irked Juan Mata by doing stepovers, Guardiola added: âItâs not just the best way defending back, because everything can happen. But he made some movements with the legs, we can avoid it, but heâs young and heâs going to improve.â
City boast a two-point cushion at the top after 12 games â a stage reached with three unbeaten teams for the first time in English top-flight history.
âIt is two points,â Guardiola said. âFour points from Chelsea. It is nothing⊠itâs good, especially where we come from.â
As for United, the defeat means they are as close to Cardiff in the relegation zone as league-leading City.
When that 12-point gap was mentioned to Mourinho in a question asking whether their title hopes were over, the Portuguese responded: âI think we are not going to be relegated.â
Despite that brusque response, the United manager was largely upbeat after a loss in which his sideâs only shot on target was Martialâs penalty.
In addition, the three goals conceded leaves them with a negative goal difference and an eye-watering 21 goals in the against column â perhaps underlining why he was so desperate for a centre-back in the summer.
âBut I donât think today was the game to touch on that point,â Mourinho said. âI think Victor and Chris had a positive performance.
âA kid (Luke Shaw) that made a mistake for the first goal is playing so, so, so, so well and last season he was playing one match every three months.
âIn this moment, he is playing every game for 90 minutes, and when I speak about the physical fatigue, the mental fatigue that leads sometimes to small injuries, other times to mistakes during the game, thatâs what I mean.
âThe game against Juventus was hard â very hard by the physical and mental point of view.
âI am with my players. I am even with the players that today made mistakes that lead to Manchester City goals.
âWe are together, we are not going to be affected by this.
âI am just sorry we donât play the next match soon and we have to wait 15 days for that.
âBut we are improving, we are together, and we go together until the end.â
Mourinho was keen not to use the enforced absence of Aprilâs derby hero Paul Pogba as an excuse for the loss but felt Marouane Fellainiâs impact would have been best served from the bench.
âClearly one thing is to bring (on) a fresh Fellaini and another thing is to play him for 90 minutes in this match,â said the United boss, who is not expecting Pogba to link up with France during the international break.
âFor different reasons we missed Paul, but that doesnât mean with Paul we win the game so itâs not an excuse.â