Manchester City’s spectacular winning run was brought to a juddering halt by their crosstown rivals as Bruno Fernandes’ early penalty and Luke Shaw’s second-half strike gave Manchester United a 2-0 win.
City were searching for a 16th successive Premier League win – and 22nd in all competitions – but they gave away a spot-kick after just 34 seconds when Anthony Martial was clumsily tripped in the area by Gabriel Jesus.
The contact was inches inside the area but the incident gave United the chance to gain an immediate foothold and they took it as Fernandes slotted home, with Ederson getting a hand to the effort but not enough to keep it out.
"𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘯""𝘞𝘪𝘯 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘨""𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯" — Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 7, 2021
Rodri clipped the bar at the start of the second half but the league leaders were caught cold in the 50th minute as Shaw worked a shot through the legs of the City defenders that wrong-footed Ederson.
City refused to throw in the towel but they could simply find no way through a stubborn visiting defence, with United keeping a fourth clean sheet in a row in all competitions as they claimed derby bragging rights.
United, who had gone 287 minutes without scoring before Fernandes’ penalty, moved back up to second in the table after a third straight win at the Etihad Stadium, but City still have a healthy 11-point lead atop the standings.
Liverpool’s inexplicable downward spiral continued as they suffered a sixth consecutive home defeat, with Mario Lemina’s first Fulham goal enough to secure a 1-0 win that immeasurably boosts the Cottagers’ survival hopes.
Celui là il est pour la Lemsfamily Ma femme et mes enfants Je vous aimes tous ❤️ #FFC #TonicLikeLeminade #PremierLeague pic.twitter.com/g3kfKySgNt — Mario Lemina (@LeminaM_13) March 7, 2021
Lemina profited from Mohamed Salah giving away possession on the edge of his own area to produce a brilliant finish on the stroke of half-time at Anfield, as Liverpool remained four points adrift of the top four.
Fulham, who have lost just once in their last seven matches, are now only in the bottom three on goal difference as they sit level on 26 points with 17th-placed Brighton.
Newcastle are only one point better off as they drew a line under a troubled week with an uneventful goalless draw at relegation-threatened West Brom, who are eight points from safety.
Harry Kane followed up two assists for Gareth Bale by bagging a brace himself as Tottenham moved up to sixth with a 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace in Sunday’s late kick-off.
Bale struck either side of Christian Benteke’s leveller before Kane took centre stage, with the England captain hitting a wonder strike before creating a moment of history.
Son Heung-min assisted Kane’s second and it was their 14th goal combination in the Premier League this season to beat the previous record of 13 set by Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton for Blackburn back in the 1994-95 season.
