Pep Guardiola cannot remember a bigger mismatch against a Premier League rival than the derby victory on Saturday. He did, however, reach the conclusion that his side have never dominated a rival so totally before in a verdict that is as damning for United as it is positive for City.
Pep Guardiola said: “Maybe this was the game that we dominated for the most time. Except for 10 minutes of the second half, the other 80 minutes were absolutely under control. There were other games, like the game when we could be champions at the Etihad [in 2018] when we were 2-0 up at half-time and after we lost 3-2. In the first half it could have been four or five but we lost 3-2. So, the second half we were not good. In some games we are good but not for as long as today, it is a game we controlled more specifically. We know each other better, we know the opponent better. We need the ball to play good and desire when we don’t have it, to recover it and play and play and play and play and play and play. “It’s not that you attack quicker and you will score more goals, you have to arrive in the right tempo. I love us arriving to the boxes, not being in the boxes. The way we play a lot of passes we are still able for Phil [Foden] to arrive and [Ilkay] Gundogan and Kevin [De Bruyne] and Gaby [Jesus] and Bernardo [Silva]. Arriving from behind is the best way to surprise the opponent and today we did it.”
