EFL Cup: United 1 city 0

Following the capitulation at Stamford Bridge, you sensed that manager, team and fans all desperately needed this win and the collective sense of purpose that permeated Old Trafford brought a performance and victory that was more convincing than the scoreline suggests.

This was not a close encounter settled by a single goal.  After sparring with their city rivals for half an hour, United stepped up and produced a commanding second half performance that answered a lot of questions raised by those much- criticised smiles and shirt exchanges at the end of Sunday's game.

Both sides had looked edgy in the early stages but the Reds had begun to probe the city rearguard with more intent and, following the interval, they took the game to city in front of a noisy Stretford End.  With Carrick pulling the strings in midfield and Pogba and Herrera pushing further forward, United's play began to match the passion of the crowd and within ten minutes of the restart they'd scored the goal that proved crucial.

Ibrahimovic had set free Pogba a few minutes earlier only for the Frenchman's shot to be saved by Caballero.  It was a sign that the Swede was beginning to influence proceedings, however, and when he out-muscled his marker to break free on the left, his ball into the area found Mata, who stroked the ball neatly past the keeper.

It was no more than the Reds deserved and, although city had more of the possession as the game went on, they never looked like testing De Gea.  United's makeshift central defensive partnership of Rojo and Blind stood firm and, in Valencia, they possessed a player who combined defensive maturity with a constant attacking threat on the break.

Although the Reds failed to add to their tally, the lack of further goals to cement their dominance was of little concern to the celebrating United fans who hailed not merely victory over local rivals and progression to the quarter-finals of this competition, but an emphatic and much-needed response to that embarrassment at Chelsea.

United 1 city 2

Last season these two sides played out a highly forgettable 0-0 draw in this fixture.  This time, a pulsating Manchester derby was won by city with a dominant first half display.  Although United strove to chase the game, ultimately the Reds paid for a lack-lustre first half hour or so and, despite the considerably greater entertainment value, Mourinho's men walked away with no points.

To say United were slow to get into the game would be an understatement.  It was like watching Bernard Manning trying to get out of bed after a big night on the ale and it wasn't long before they were made to pay for their sluggishness.  The movement of city's forward players had been caused problems for the United defence from the start but it was a more direct approach that brought the breakthrough.  Blind failed to deal with a long ball and header that De Bruyne ran through onto and the Belgian drilled his shot past De Gea from the edge of the area.

De Bruyne was easily the game's outstanding player and he was instrumental in bringing city's second when his shot hit the post, only for Iheanacho to tap in the rebound.  It was, sadly, no more than the visitors deserved.  United's game plan of using Mkhitaryan and Lingard to press on city's full backs just wasn't working and the opposition's busy midfielders denied Pogba any space in which to work while Fellaini was too often busy attempting to help out the Reds' ragged defence.

United got back into the game just before half-time when Bravo, making his debut in the city goal, fumbled a deep cross and Ibrahimovic seized his opportunity, brilliantly controlling his volley to score just inside the near post.  The big Swede then had two opportunities to level the scores before half-time, his far post header only finding the grateful arms of Bravo before yet more confusion between the Chilean keeper and his defenders allowed him another shot on goal, this time only to find Stones on the line.

Understandably, Mourinho took both Mkhitaryan and Lingard off at half-time, replacing them with Herrera and Rashford.  Rashford didn't take long to make the city defence aware of his threat, charging down the left and finding Ibrahimovic in the box, only for the striker to send his shot over the bar.

Later in the half, another run from the youngster looked to have brought the equaliser, but the linesman disallowed it, his shot having struck an offside Ibrahimovic on its way into the net.

United were by now seeking the equaliser with some determination, though they also left the back door open on a number of occasions and it took a couple of crucial saves from De Gea, a superb challenge from Bailly and a shot from De Bruyne that hit the post and ran along the goal line to prevent city from adding to their lead.

With Martial coming on as a late substitute, the Reds continued to press for a crucial equaliser, but this time the late goal never came and city celebrated victory in what will go down as one of the more memorable Manchester derbies of recent times, although those memories will taste much sourer for those among the Red contingent at Old Trafford.