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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Casey Evans

Erik ten Hag and Manchester United get one over Pep Guardiola as Arsenal take the title initiative

Despite losing 6-3 early in the season, Manchester United were able to turn their fortunes around at Old Trafford. Erik ten Hag's side won 2-1 on Saturday against rivals Manchester City as the team in red showed just how far they've come under the Dutch manager.

The win could have massive repercussions for the title race in the Premier League, but Ten Hag will not be focusing on that right now. His thoughts will turn to what he can take away from the game ahead of United's fixtures against Crystal Palace and Arsenal this week.

Pep Guardiola on the other hand will have a lot to think about. In the last two games, his City side has lost twice and only mustered one shot on target.

READ MORE: What Erik ten Hag asked United to do vs Man City

So who were the biggest winners and losers from the Manchester Derby. Let's take a closer look:

Winners

Marcus Rashford

Rashford continued his great goalscoring form becoming the first player since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008 to score goals in seven consecutive matches for United. Many had said that the 25-year-old had only scored against weaker opposition, but his winning strike against City will do a lot to silence the doubters.

Erik ten Hag

United fans were completely behind Ten Hag before the win, but defeating their rivals in such a way will only cement how the Old Trafford faithful feel about their new manager. Furthermore, the Dutchman's aim is to win silverware and secure the top four, and with the club now only one point behind City in second, they have a good chance of doing just that.

Arsenal

The biggest winners from the Derby however are Arsenal. The North London side had started to sweat slightly as City narrowed the gap while not playing well, but the loss to United has given Mikel Arteta some breathing room. However, United's form will give Mikel Arteta something to think about as they visit the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Losers

Erling Haaland

Everything was going swimmingly for Haaland before the international break for the World Cup, but since City have resumed their campaign the striker has been struggling. Guardiola's side seems unable to reliably get him the ball in bigger games and given their whole strategy has centered around this, it could cost them in the title race and the Champions League.

Pep Guardiola

How does Guardiola solve this problem? His team looked like they were out of ideas for much of their clash with United and that will worry the Spanish manager.

Many fans will back Guardiola to find a solution to his problems, but with Arsenal pulling ahead in the title race and the team already out of the EFL Cup, it will have to be sooner rather than later.

Manchester City

From Guardiola's comments, it's clear the team's aim is to win the Champions League this season. The issue is there are no guarantees in international football and City are at risk of slipping domestically as well with both United and Newcastle hot on their tales.

It's not panic stations yet, but when City face Leipzig in over a month, a couple more bad results could leave the fanbase worrying ahead of what could be a crucial game.

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