Rashford the hero as Man United sinks City

Manchester City's poor run of form in the English Premier League continued after they were beaten at the Etihad by their city rivals, Manchester United. 

Schoolboy Marcus Rashford scored the decisive strike in the first half. The United academy graduate's 16th-minute strike was enough as United ground out a much-needed victory. It was Rashford's fifth goal on his eighth appearance for the club.

Manchester City's afternoon went from bad to worse after injuries to Raheem Sterling and Joe Hart in either half to injuries. David de Gea was never really troubled throughout the game. Sergio Aguero's header against the post was actually the closest City came to equalizing.  

The result sees United maintain their quest for Champions League qualification and a perfect response to their midweek exit from the Europa League at the hands of Liverpool. 

City remain 15 points adrift of leaders Leicester with just eight games to play and surely will be looking over their shoulders as the race for the top four heats up. Man United are now level on points with fifth-placed West Ham and just a point off their city rivals.

Manchester City must now hope their poor form does not continue. The announcement of Pep Guardiola as the next manager has coincided with their bad results. They must find a way to arrest the slide or the current Bayern Munich boss will have the Europa League to contend with. 

Pochettino: Win over Man City more than three points

Mauricio Pochettino has hailed Tottenham’s 2-1 win at Manchester City as more important than just the three points his team claimed. 

Spurs produced a dominant and efficient display at the Etihad Stadium. Christian Eriksen’s 83rd-minute winner was enough to move the North London side to second place in the league and two points behind league leaders Leicester City. Nigerian teenage star Kelechi Iheanacho had cancelled out Harry Kane’s opener. 

Pochettino told Sky Sports after the game, "We are very happy with the performance, the effort. The victory is a perfect job."

“This was our plan and we delivered it perfectly. To come and play the way we played with a very young squad, to play a team where all the players are world champions, world class, we need to give full credit to our players.

“Manchester City needed to show that they wanted to win the game but we were calm, we played well, we defended well. Our mentality is always to try to score and win the game. I’m very pleased because it wasn’t only a win — it means a lot more than only three points.

“It’s important to have this type of experience for the future. We are very young. Before the game, you could feel it wasn’t a normal game and we started to discover this type of game, this type of experience. It’s very important for the future," he added. 

Pochettino, however, refused to be drawn into discussions of his side's title chances. 

“Step-by-step. My speech is always the same. We need to keep working hard, keep this feeling, keep the right mentality,” Pochettino said.

“We have a lot of games ahead, we are in different competitions, you need to respect the competitions and it’s important to give your best every day.

“It’s important to be calm. The way we’ve taken from the beginning of the season is perfect. We need to carry on. We have a very clear plan and we need to deliver it.”

Arsenal downs Manchester City

Arsenal defeated title rivals City to close the gap on league leaders Leicester City. Theo Walcott ‘s thunderous drive in the first half set Arsenal on their way before Olivier Giroud scored the decisive second just before half time.

City tried to get back into the game and were given hope when Yaya Toure scored a sumptuous goal with Petr Cech rooted to the spot. The visitors made three attacking substitution in the second half bringing on Raheem Sterling, Wilfred Bony and Jesus Navas in an attempt to overturn the deficit.

Arsenal held on in the end closing the gap to two points at the top and creating a significant gap over Man City. Petr Cech, however, will have to wait a little longer before overtaking David James with the highest number of clean sheets in the Premier League. 

Photo Credit: Arsenal