Pep Guardiola strikes first blow in new rivalry with Mourinho

<p>Pep Guardiola’s perfect run with Manchester City continued as Manchester United were made to pay for Daley Blind’s first-half blunders in an enthralling derby at Old Trafford.</p>, <p>Manchester City beat Manchester United 2-1 to extend their perfect start to the Premier League season and end that of their local rivals in an entertaining and action-packed encounter at Old Trafford.</p>, <p>City, who handed a debut to goalkeeper Claudio Bravo and started Kelechi Iheanacho in place of the suspended Sergio Aguero, dominated the early exchanges with United looking nervous and out of sorts.</p>, <p>Pep Guardiola’s side took the lead in the 15th minute, although in an unconventional manner. A long ball from left-back Aleksandar Kolarov was headed on by Iheanacho into the path of Kevin De Bruyne, who took advantage of hesitation from Daley Blind to put the visitors in front.</p>, <p>From there, City continued to control the game and United, who started with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard in place of Juan Mata and Anthony Martial, could not live with the high-tempo style of their rivals.</p>, <p>De Bruyne’s intelligent movement and use of the ball was central to a City side that looked sharper and hungrier than the hosts, and it was the Belgium international’s work that created a second goal for City after 35 minutes.</p>, <p>Turning into space in the box he shot across the face of goal and struck the inside of the post. Iheanacho, played onside by Blind, pounced on the rebound to double City’s advantage and give them what looked like a decisive lead.</p>, <p>But a defensive error from City gave United a glimpse of hope before half-time. Bravo, clashing with John Stones, fumbled a long free kick from Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic accurately volleyed home through a crowd of City players to reduce the deficit.</p>, <p>In added time at the end of the half, United showed their confidence was rising when a cross from Rooney found Ibrahimovic unmarked but his header was collected by Bravo.</p>, <p>Mourinho react