Manchester United 4 Manchester City 2
A jubilant Louis van Gaal paid tribute to the Manchester United fans after the Old Trafford faithful witnessed one of their best afternoons since the retirement of Alex Ferguson.
In the two years since Fergie stepped down his former team have had little to cheer, but their 4-2 victory over Manchester City was an occasion to celebrate as the Red Devils pulled four points clear of their rivals.
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United remain third, a point behind Arsenal, but now almost guaranteed Champions League football next season.
"I am very happy for the fans," declared van Gaal. "I have seen what it means for them. They always support us when the results were not good. It's the best atmosphere I have seen here."
Describing the result as "fantastic", van Gaal admitted that United had been slow out of the blocks and deserved to go a goal down to Sergio Aguero after just eight minutes. "We started very badly," he conceded. "It was not Manchester United, we were very nervous. I don't know why. We had no pressure on the ball. I don't know why. But when we scored the goal, from that moment we had more confidence."
The equaliser came from Ashley Young on 14 minutes and just before the half-hour mark Marouane Fellaini's back-post header put the hosts 2-1 up. Juan Mata added a third on 67 minutes and Chris Smalling made it 4-1 five minutes later.
Aguero got his second on the stroke of full-time but it was a goal of little importance as City suffered their sixth defeat in their last eight games. On a chastening afternoon for the defending champions (who are five points clear of Southampton in fifth spot), manager Manuel Pellegrini admitted he was at a loss to explain his side's slump in form since New Year. "I don't understand why a team only plays so well in the first 20 minutes," he said of the Sky Blues. "We dominated, created chances, we had the ball… maybe it's a lack of class at this moment. I don't know."
Asked how he intended to turn things around in the final six weeks of the campaign, Pellegrini replied: "We must fight until the end of the season. For the club, for me, for the players it is very important to be in a position for the Champions League. We have six games more to try to do it."
United travel to Chelsea on Sunday to play a Blues side who needed a late goal from Cesc Fabregas to see off QPR on Sunday. Victory over the league leaders would confirm United's rejuvenation, but van Gaal is keeping his feet on the ground for the moment. "The goal we set was to get into the first four and I'll be very pleased if we reach that goal," he told reporters. "I said it would not be easy and we still have six matches to play. It is not done yet but we are on our way."
