For one brief moment in the second half of the 191st Manchester derby, City reduced Old Trafford to a training pitch. They swept from one end to the other, unchecked by the static defenders but moving men and ball with stylish and simplistic accuracy.

Ederson had the ball, but it moved through Kyle Walker, Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland before ending up in the opposite net. It went from end-to-end, side-to-side, but United never got near it.

How you define the goal will depend on the colour of your shirt. For the 'boys in blue', as the away end sang, it was another work of art in City's increasingly impressive gallery. If red is your derby day colour of choice, then it was an indictment of everything wrong. Too easy, too soft.

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In reality, both can be right. It was too good from City, but too soft from United. City can score this type of goal against any team, but usually, they have to work a little harder for it.

What it did do was sum up the divide between these two sides of Manchester. 'Mind the gap', the away end had sung. It's impossible to avoid. It's now so wide that if you fell in you might never get out.

It was a move that ended with Haaland, perhaps destined to become the most clinical striker the English top flight has ever seen, given the freedom of half of the six-yard box to bury his header. There were 41 minutes to go but it felt like it was game over.

It's only 10 months since United won this derby, coming from behind late on to close within three points of City. At that stage, it did feel like the gap was closing, but it was just a City team struggling to locate top gear. United were flat out and they couldn't maintain it.

The season finished with United showing signs of wear under Erik ten Hag and City winning the treble. 'Champions of England, champions of Europe', the away end bellowed. This season is shaping up to be an entertaining scrap at the top of the Premier League, but only one team in Manchester is involved in it.

This was Guardiola's 20th derby in charge of City and his 11th victory. He can add this one to the list of easy afternoons. When he spoke on Friday the Catalan tried to show respect to United, he tried to show they're taken seriously. But it's hard to do that. Guardiola was on the money when he said they'd only really been close to his side once, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in charge. Ten Hag doesn't look like changing that and there has to be a good chance that when Guardiola comes here next season, he will be shaking hands with yet another United manager.

This derby day success actually started with City below their best in the first half. They led at the break having not played that well. There were times when they were slack in possession, with Josko Gvardiol and Phil Foden the chief culprits. United rarely threatened Ederson's goal but when they did it usually came about through a mistake from the visitors.

That was the case when Scott McTominay failed to make the best of an excellent opportunity early on and then when Foden played Rasmus Hojlund through on goal. United wasted both attacks and it did feel like they lacked the weapons to hurt Guardiola's side.

So it proved. Once City found that control they cherish they cruised through the second half. Once again the last rites of an Old Trafford derby were performed in front of a sparsely populated Old Trafford. This is getting all too easy for City.