Gulf Grows: Man City 12 Pts Clear of United With Win Derby | Sports News

By ROB HARRIS, AP Global Soccer Writer

MANCHESTER, England (AP) – The fourth goal in the Manchester derby shown by the two rivals is not only widening in their Premier League positions in technical quality.

With slickness and finesse, Manchester City strung together with 44-pass move before Ilkay Gundogan completed a 3-1 victory for the league leaders over Manchester United on Sunday.

City's 12-point advantage over is the largest after 12 games in the post-1992 Premier League era. And Jose Mourinho's eighth-place team is as close to Cardiff in the relegation zone as it is to defending the champion City at the top.

"I think we are not going to be relegated," Mourinho said dryly, when United's position was pointed out. "I think it's not a bad performance at all, it's a performance with mistakes.

Completely outplayed by English football's dominant strength, Mourinho has little prospect of dethroning City as champions. Alex Ferguson retired in a blaze of glory in 2013, a third attempt at bringing back the premier league trophy back to old trafford

City's opener came in the 13th minute when Raheem Sterling crossed over to Bernardo Silva, who cut the ball back for David Silva to sweep into the net.

The only surprise was with David Silva and Sergio Aguero also in the United States, 36 percent possession and lack of verve provided by the injured Paul Pogba.

"The way people who do not understand football analysis is with stats," Mourinho said. "I do not go for stats."

The manager could look at his players' lack of urgency on the ball.

Three minutes into the second half, Jesse Lingard conceded on the halfway line to Fernandinho who set Aguero free on a run to goal. After playing with Riyadh Mahrez, Aguero struck with David De Gea's raised arms.

Something did go right for United after Lingard was replaced by Romelu Lukaku.

The goalkeeper Ederson and Martial reduced the deficit from the penalty spot.

"We were in a fight to try to get the equalizer," Mourinho said.

Then the third goal came into the 44-pass move that started with Benjamin Mendy's sequel control of the ball and ended with Gundogan left clear by Nemanja Matic to meet Bernardo Silva's cross and put the ball past De Gea in the 86th minute.

This was how City wants to be seen on the world stage: A team producing scintillating soccer on the field. Not for the team who seems to be working on the development of financial mechanisms, but also on the subject of having failed in the past.

Champions last season with 100 points, City heads into the international break with a two-point lead over Liverpool.

"We're scoring a lot of goals, creating a lot of chances, conceding few," City manager Pep Guardiola said, "and that is a rhythm."

Even Watford and Bournemouth now sit above United, with Tottenham seven points in front of the fourth and final Champions League spot. Mourinho blamed the European competition for United's collapse in the blue half of Manchester. While United had a tough trip to Juventus – coming from behind to win 2-1 – City had the luxury of facing a weak Shakhtar Donetsk and easing to a 6-0 win.

"I'm not going to give that an excuse," said Mourinho, a three-time Premier League winner with Chelsea. "That's not me."

"Everybody has to agree," Mourinho said. "One thing is to go to Juventus and play against one of the best teams in the world and play for 94 minutes in the limits, not just the physical but the mental.

"It's another thing to beat Shakhtar Donetsk at home and enjoy the game and it's a little bit different.

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/apf-Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.