The red and blue sides of Manchester have stamped their authority on the Premier League early this season with three successive victories. The exploits of strikers Wayne Rooney and Edin Dzeko, who top the scoring charts with 5 and 6 respectively, have been key to the rival sides' early success, with United having netted 13 to City's 12 in their opening 3 matches.
While the form of the front men cannot be underestimated, Rooney and Dzeko have been helped in no small part by new recruits at the club, with Samir Nasri's City debut showing just how influential his signing may be in the title race, with Arsenal suffering badly. United new-boy Ashley Young has perhaps bedded into his new side more effortlessly than any other summer signing, picking up 4 assists already this term, and like Nasri at City, may prove to be integral in his side's success.
Playing from the left wing, both Nasri and Young picked up 3 assists at the weekend, with two of each of the player's hat-trick teeing up their aforementioned danger men in attack.
City ran riot in the capital to humble a Tottenham side that, over the last 2 seasons, have been equals to Mancini's men. An eventual 5-1 scoreline was emphatic but hardly undeserved, with Edin Dzeko again proving his progression in the blue of Manchester City to net a phenomenal 4 goals.
The Bosnian is setting his stall out as a first team regular, keeping the likes of Tevez and Balotelli on the bench, and after hitting the target with 6 of an exceptional 9 attempts at goal, who can question his Italian manager's selection.
Dzeko also made 2 key passes out of 49 in total against Spurs, with an 80% accuracy, proving he is more than just a target man. In fact, besides his superbly taken headed goal, City looked to play the ball into the striker's feet, as he won no aerial duels. When compared to the 9 duels that Peter Crouch contested at the other end, it is easy to see the difference in approach from the opposing manager's on the day, despite a similar set-up.
While Dzeko's excellence up front was clear to see, the debut from Samir Nasri, victim of rallies of abuse from the Spurs fans due to his former allegiance with Arsenal, showed immense character and quality. The Frenchman completed a frankly unheard of figure of 11 key passes in the match, while the next best score was 3, and 2 from a teammate on the day.
His remarkable input in a creative sense led to 3 assists, 2 for the aforementioned Dzeko, though the quality of his distribution was near perfect. Having taken 91 touches in a highly-involved debut, Nasri made 71 passes with an unparalleled 97% accuracy. This precision came despite a willingness to utilize a range that saw him complete 2 crosses, 2 long balls and 1 through ball in an awe inspiring first outing for the Eastlanders.
After bitter rivals City had laid down a benchmark against Spurs, it was left for champions United to respond with a performance against the Londoners own enemy Arsenal, and boy did they deliver!
An astounding 8-2 drubbing was nothing short of a lesson to a young Arsenal side, and an overwhelming humiliation to boot. The Gunners were bereft of a number of first team stars but it is worth mentioning that both sides average age was 23 on the day. After netting a sumptuous free-kick for his 150th goal in the red of United, Wayne Rooney obliged to add another two in completing a hat-trick of emphatic set pieces to help his side to a momentous triumph.
The England forward is in the form of his life and contributed with 4 key passes in addition to figures of 5 of 7 attempts at goal on target. As well as assisting a further goal, Rooney hit the woodwork in what would have been a 4-goal haul to emulate that of Dzeko earlier in the day. Similarly to the City man, Rooney made 49 passes from 67 touches, with a slightly advanced 82% accuracy in an all-round display of dominance.
While Rooney was stealing the headlines, former Villa winger Ashley Young was far from quietly impressing on the left. Picking up a hat-trick of assists from a total of 5 key passes, Young was getting in on the act himself with two classy curlers beyond the reach of the hapless Szczesny in the Arsenal goal.
His lay-offs, it should be said, were of minimal effort for Rooney's free-kicks but it is clear to see an instant understanding has emerged between the duo, who combined on the opening day success over West Brom. Young had more touches than any other player against Arsenal (87), a club he supported as a boy, though he showed no mercy on Sunday, picking up an excellent 87% pass success rate to cap a superb performance, despite attempting a total of 14 crosses, long and through balls combined.
Though it is still early days, City and United's existing quality has been quite clearly bolstered and it is hard to see how Arsenal, Tottenham or anyone else for that matter, will keep up.
