Manchester City had the 'game of their lives' according to Phil Foden, built on a basis of a simple tactical instruction from Pep Guardiola involving four players.
City took an early lead as Eric Bailly sliced into his own goal, doubling their lead just before half time through Bernardo Silva to reflect a completely dominant first half.
United were poor throughout, and City remained in full control in a quiet second half where they were rarely troubled.
And key to their success, according to Blues winger Foden, was the pressure they put on United's wing-backs Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw - all coming from an instruction from Pep Guardiola.
"We had the game of our lives today, everything went right," he told Sky Sports.
"We had lots of possession, lots of chances. We dominated from start to finish which is really good. [The key] was the possession, in the right times, when to hurt them, space in behind.
"Me and Gabby [Jesus] got told to press the fullbacks, it's difficult when they play five at the back. We had Kev [De Bruyne] and Bernardo [Silva] pressing too and it worked.
"We knew we could exploit the space in behind, we picked the right times to do it. They found me a few times in behind, on another day I could have finished my chance."
Foden also revealed the City message at half-time, with Pep Guardiola's instruction to maintain the intensity of the first half in the second period.
He explained: "We didn't want to drop it in the second half, we got in at half time and said to keep up the possession game and keep up how we started, we did that really well
"It gives us massive confidence going just before the international break, important to get the win, really excited.
"It's very important to get back to winning ways in the league, we can take massive confidence. United are a great team, a difficult ground to come to. We showed our class. It's extra special."
