Manchester United vs Manchester City 2-0: Premier League – as it happened

United delivered a statement 2-0 derby victory over rivals City to paint Manchester red.

It provides a glorious opening chapter for Michael Carrick’s reign, and the fans will hope it will continue for some time to come.

We hope you enjoyed our coverage of today’s fascinating encounter, and on behalf of Patrick Keddie, this is Rohan Sharma signing off.

Manchester is red 🔴 pic.twitter.com/DPNtFmpp3H

— Premier League (@premierleague) January 17, 2026

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola caught up with Sky Sports, as well, “The better team won. They had something we didn’t have. We weren’t at the level required to win this game.

“In many departments, we weren’t there. They were better. They had an energy we didn’t have.

“Does [Phil] Foden have an injury? No, I don’t think so.”

“Was it a red card [Diogo Dalot’s yellow card]? Yes. But it would be poor for me as a manager to blame the red card.

“Would I change it? Yes. Would it have changed the game? Who knows. If the players have that as an excuse, then we have a big problem.”

Man Utd 2-0 Man City FT

The Michael Carrick era is here. And what a result to get it started.

United fully deserve their win, as City lose further ground in the title race. pic.twitter.com/ghLAHj1y6X

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) January 17, 2026

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick dissected the match with Sky Sports: “I don’t want to get carried away with all the DNA kind of thing. We wanted to play well and put things into the game that we thought we help that.

“We certainly wanted to be good defensively as a team. We felt we had a threat in transition. When we did have the ball I thought we looked dangerous.

“I couldn’t ask for any more. The boys took everything on tactically and dealt with it emotionally.

“I said yesterday it was a magic place and it certainly was today.”

“He [Pep Guardiola]  is such an unbelievable coach, and it is not for me to pick him apart publicly. We played to our strengths.

“We needed to be compact and needed distances to be as short as possible between the positions. We looked dangerous on the attack.

“We wanted to play to our strengths. The two wide lads, Amad [Diallo] and [Patrick] Dorgu, were fantastic both ways.

“[Bryan] Mbeumo and Bruno [Fernandes], [Matheus] Cunha coming on and making the difference, [Mason] Mount nearly getting the goal. It was everything was what we hoped for.

“Coming into the game, the changes we made were not easy and then to perform on the back of it was exceptional.

“I thought they managed the emotional side of the game unbelievably well, which made me really proud. And to put it all together was even better.

“At the time I thought he [Diogo Dalot] kicked the ball out, but I haven’t seen it. I haven’t seen them either [the three goals ruled offside]. Games will ebb and flow, and there will be decisions. Today the decisions went for us.

“For so many reasons, today was special. To get the team emotionally attacked to what we want to do, I felt that from the players and staff.

“I am not getting carried away, it is just one game. It needs to be a regular feeling of that level of performance.

“We are soaking it up and enjoying it, but it is never enough.”

Manchester United love sweeping attacking moves, and Bryan Mbeumo has just finished off a very good one!

The hosts lead in the derby. Will City have any response? pic.twitter.com/HjGw6l70Hh

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) January 17, 2026

Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva spoke with Sky Sports: “They deserved to win today.

“They had more energy and intention. It always felt like they were close to score and we were never there.

“We gave them what they want. They took the game to where they are good and we are not so good.

“Since I arrived here in England, we have always been a very controlled team. There was a lot of things missing from us. Definitely a bad day for us.

On whether Diogo Dalot should be sent off: “After a day like today, I don’t think we have any excuses. It was a really bad performance from us.

“I saw the challenge, it is what it is. This season the 50-50 decisions all go against us. They all go for our rivals. At the end of the day, this was not the reason. I watched the clip – it is a red card.”

On the gap between Man City and Arsenal: “It is a big gap, we won’t lie and say it isn’t a big gap, it is. We will fight until the end.”

Want even more detail from this memorable Manchester derby fixture?

Well, look no further than our match report, which you can find here.

Our football coverage extends into tomorrow as we get primed for the big one.

The Africa Cup of Nations final between Senegal and Morocco is set to take place in Rabat.

Our live coverage begins at 16:00 GMT, so make sure to tune in then!

For glory. For history. For Africa.
Two came all this way. 🇲🇦🇸🇳

This is the #TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 final. pic.twitter.com/ZUuGpeu2og

— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) January 14, 2026

With this loss, City are six points off pole position at 43 points.

Arsenal, who play Nottingham Forest away in a few hours, now have a golden opportunity to extend that lead to nine points.

United move up to fourth place with 35 points, but will hope Liverpool do not manage at least a draw if they are to maintain that spot.

Manchester United forward Bryan Mbeumo caught up with Sky Sports as well: “Yeah one of them [if asked if it was his best match for United]. Scoring in front of this stand is unbelievable, and [in a] derby is even more. We used the energy of the fans today. It was unbelievable.

“We have a very good group. We are always sticking together. We have a fantastic unit.

“It is not easy, as we only had three days [since the last match], but because we all are together and want to win, we tried to be focused as possible today. Everyone was defending and attacking.”

Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez spoke with Sky Sports following the match: “Unbelievable, being here with our people. We showed who we are. Today was the best moment to do it. The team, bench and staff – everyone was together.

“One important thing that Michael Carrick said is to use the energy of the [fans], and today we did it. It is impossible to lose at home.

“When you play against these kind of players [Erling Haaland], the team has to defend. It is not just one or two players. We defended so good – we were compact. Today the team won, and that is the most important thing.

“If you give one or two seconds to Haaland, he will score. That is why he scores 30-40 goals every season.”

Michael Carrick’s reign as United manager couldn’t have started any better. His side looked the far more assured and complete team from the get-go.

The hosts could easily have had six or seven goals today, but were unlucky to have three of them pulled back for offside, with Maguire and Diallo hitting the woodwork on the other attempts.

City were off the boil, and have potentially afforded Arsenal even more breathing room as they can go nine points at the top if they beat Nottingham Forest later today.

Full-time: Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City 

MANCHESTER. IS. REDDDDD! 🤩❤️

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 17, 2026

United put in a majestic performance at home to beat City on derby day!

Full-time: Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City 

VAR rears its ugly head though, as Cunha was just offside when he received his pass from Diallo.

United are still two goals ahead, but there is precious time left for City to stage a comeback here.

90+5 mins: Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City 

Diallo passes to Cunha, who is on the overlap on the right.

Cunha squares a pass across to Mount on his left, who is able to slide the ball home into the empty net.

United have their third, and have sent some seismic waves across the Premier League.

90+3 mins: Manchester United 3-0 Manchester City

Fernandes and Shaw come off, with Mason Mount and Ayden Heaven coming on in their stead.

90+1 mins: Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City 

Diallo rushes in from the left side as he tries to get past Ake.

He does well to get into the box, before aiming for the right post, but hits the woodwork. United looked certain for a third there.

90 mins: Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City 

The home fans would barely have believed this scoreline before the match, but such has been the magnitude of their side’s performance today.

88 mins: Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City 

The Dutchman is in the box on the right side.

He spots Ait-Nouri at the opposing post and tries to square a ball across, but sends it past the byline for a United goal kick.

85 mins: Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City 

Casemiro comes off to rapturous applause as his replacement Manuel Ugarte rushes on.

81 mins: Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City