England: Edin Dzeko scored inside 43 seconds and again in the second-half as Manchester City inflicted more misery on Manchester United with a 3-0 win on Tuesday, cutting their deficit to Premier League leader Chelsea to three points.
Yaya Toure added a third goal in the 90th minute to seal United's second humiliating 3-0 loss to a fierce rival at Old Trafford in 10 days, following their humbling by Liverpool. The champions are guaranteed to finish with their lowest points haul in the Premier League era and jeopardized their hopes of even qualifying for next season's Europa League.
Dzeko set City on their way to a one-sided victory - and a derby double in the league - with the quickest ever Premier League away goal at Old Trafford and scored a volleyed second in the 56th.
City, who have two games in hand over Chelsea, have removed supposedly one of their toughest fixtures in a run-in that also includes matches at title rivals Arsenal and Liverpool. In truth, though, they will go down as one of their most routine wins of the campaign, with United outclassed from the first whistle and barely threatening City goalkeeper Joe Hart.
It was yet another chastening home defeat for David Moyes - United's sixth in the league this season - and left the team seventh in the standings, five points behind sixth-place Tottenham in what is proving a wretched defense of the title.
With United struggling badly in Moyes' first season and their neighbor embroiled in the title race, City manager Manuel Pellegrini raised the temperature in English football's northern hotbed by saying in February: "If we only consider this season, there is just one club in Manchester - and it is ours."
Not since the 1977-78 season has City held such a dominant cushion over United in terms of league points heading into a derby.
United have had to wait five weeks to actively reply to that taunt but City rammed home their superiority within a minute.
Rafael da Silva produced a tremendous last-ditch tackle on Silva but City regained possession and after Samir Nasri dragged a shot against the inside of the post, Dzeko - fit after a bout of sickness - was on hand to bundle in the rebound. United great George Best holds the record for the quickest goal in a Manchester derby - after 38 seconds in 1968.
City went into halftime with just a one-goal lead but they really should have been more, with the superb Silva and Dzeko wasting other great chances in the opening 20 minutes as United's creaky defense was opened up time and again. Midfield was always going to be area where United would be under pressure and it simply couldn't cope with the nimbleness of Silva and the power of Toure early on.
United were lucky to reach the break with 10 men after Marouane Fellaini raised his elbow in the 30th toward Pablo Zabaleta, who had earlier scythed down by Danny Welbeck in a gruesome-looking collision.
The match ran the same course in the second half, with City showing much more class and composure on the ball, and Dzeko's second goal virtually ended the game as a contest.
It was simple in its execution, Nasri whipping an outswinging corner to the near post for Dzeko to guide a volley into the top corner. Rio Ferdinand was left trailing in the Bosnian's wake.
Moyes had a dilemma now - go for broke and risk being carved open like it was against Liverpool or tighten ranks and seek damage limitation.
In the end, he did neither and Toure drove a powerful strike across United keeper David De Gea and into the corner with seconds left in normal time, wrapping up a third straight league win at Old Trafford.####
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