Manchester City captain Richard Dunne could not hide his delight after the derby triumph over United.
Derby delight for City skipper
Manchester City captain Richard Dunne could not hide his delight after the derby triumph over Manchester United.
Goals from Darius Vassell and debut-making Benjani Mwaruwari helped City secure their first victory at the home of their bitter rivals since 1974.
Michael Carrick pulled one back for the home side in added time, but it was not enough as Sir Alex Ferguson's side saw their title hopes dented.
The match came just days after the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, with a perfectly-observed minute's silence fully respected by both sets of fans.
Brilliant
Dunne told
Sky Sports: "It's brilliant. We've been disappointed with our last few performances and we got stuck into them.
"We knew if we didn't put in a performance we'd be in trouble. We got the goals at the right time and in the second half we worked really hard."
Midfielder Dietmar Hamann praised City's work-rate after they upstaged Sir Alex Ferguson's men.
Covered
Hamann told
Sky Sports: "We worked ever so hard and didn't give them much space when they went forward. Every time one of our players lost the ball another player covered and won it back.
"We know how good they are going forward and to restrict them to one goal and a handful of chances throughout the 90 minutes showed how well we defended."
Hamann praised the performance of striker Benjani, who marked his first start for City by heading in their second goal.
"He's done ever so well," said Hamann. "He kept the ball well and worked hard. When we put the ball in the channels he was always chasing it and won a few free-kicks.
"He scored a great goal and it was a great debut for him."
