Manchester United 2 Manchester City 1 – Rooney brilliance wins the derby

Manchester United marched seven points clear at the top of the Premier League on Saturday after Wayne Rooney scored an amazing winner against Manchester City in the lunchtime derby.

The game was approaching the final ten minutes when Nani crossed from the right-hand side and Rooney demonstrated excellent technique to score an overhead goal, the likes of which will not be seen again this season.

It was an evenly-matched contest, with the Manchester derby beginning in cagey fashion thanks to both teams adopting a 4-5-1 formation which saw Rooney and Carlos Tevez play as the respective lone strikers.

David Silva had an excellent chance to break the deadlock early in the game but could only punt the ball wide of the post, with the Red Devils taking the lead just before half-time thanks to some wizardry from Nani.

The Portuguese winger collected the ball from Ryan Giggs before smartly finishing past Joe Hart and it forced Roberto Mancini to rethink his tactics for the second half, with Shaun Wright-Phillips making an appearance.

It proved to be an effective substitution, with the winger providing the cross that saw Edin Dzeko’s shot hit the back of David Silva and fly into the net to level the scoreline.

Manchester City then seemed to be in the ascendancy before Rooney’s amazing strike settled the game and extinguished City’s hopes of winning a first ever Premier League title.