THIS WAS ALWAYS going to be a day for Manchester City fans to gloat, and it turned out that conditions were perfect at Old Trafford.
Once the tributes were paid to the late Bobby Charlton and Francis Lee, normal service could be resumed.
Erling Haaland’s two goals ensured those travelling fans could savour every moment.
And when he squared for homegrown superstar Phil Foden to make it 3-0 with 10 minutes left the rout was complete.
Three goals for the Treble winners, an apt kind of symmetry for a club whose success has seen them emerge from the shadows.
Even if the lingering threat of 115 financial charges from the Premier League remain.
“Champions of Europe, we know what we are,” echoed from the away section with the game only seconds old.
Their day would only get better.
City’s status as the dominant force in Manchester – and England – has been confirmed over the last decade with six Premier League titles.
United have not finished above them in that time.
They have enjoyed the sporadic moments of derby-day joy, the type that City needed as nourishment during their barren decades, but Pep Guardiola’s side had total control of this contest from the moment Haaland sent Andre Onana the wrong way from the penalty spot in the 26th minute.
VAR played its part in the award of the spot kick and while some will say it was soft given Rasmus Hojlund made the usual kind of contact with Rodri in attempting to stop his run to meet a set-piece, what followed was typical of where both teams find themselves.
United were ragged and City rampant.
Had Onana not made two point-blank saves from Haaland the damage could have been far greater.
Erik ten Hag looked beleaguered by the end, which was no surprise given how dysfunctional and disappointing the start to this season has been. These 90 minutes simply reinforced the current sorry state.
Not so much a sense of drift, rather a submergence into mediocrity.
No wonder, then, City fans made the most of their day.
There used to be a banner hanging from the corner of the Stretford End, right above the tunnel where City players couldn’t miss it, that marked the number of years they went without a trophy.
It came down in 2011 – the 35th year – when City won the FA Cup.
The landscape has changed beyond all recognition since then.
When Haaland made it 2-0 in the 49th minute, finishing off a swift move with a header at the back post, the floodgates began.
“Mind the gap, mind the gap Man Utd,” echoed around the famous old ground, and then the City fans made sure to point out that it, too, has seen better days.
“Old Trafford is falling down,” they continued.
City popped the ball around United players for fun, the sublime Bernardo Silva the epitome of everything this United aren’t: brilliant and effective.
“USA, USA, USA,” those City fans teased, although whether any of the Glazer family were tuning in from America or bothered to have notifications turned on is doubtful.
The final ignominy was saved for injury time, the game long gone for United as City continued to toy with their opponents.
The oles went on and on before the fans in the corner were roused into life: “Champions again, champions again, champions again ole, ole!”
So, after two defeats in their last three games, this win was needed to bring City to within two points of the top.
It’s doubtful those fans will have to change too much from their songbook as they bid for a fourth successive title.
