MANCHESTER, England — The hotly-anticipated derby matchup between Manchester United and Manchester City turned into a 6-1 rout Sunday as City, inspired by Mario Balotelli and David Silva, destroyed a United team reduced to 10 men following the sending-off of Jonny Evans.
City moved five points clear of its neighbor at the top of the English Premier League standings after an incredible performance at Old Trafford.
Italian striker Balotelli, who escaped unhurt when a firework went off at his home Saturday, opened the scoring in the 22nd minute.
James Milner found him in space and Balotelli calmly slotted the ball past David de Gea from the edge of the penalty area. He celebrated in typically idiosyncratic style, lifting his sky blue shirt to reveal a T-shirt bearing the words, “Why always me?” Referee Mark Clattenburg responded by showing him a yellow card.
United, with Danny Welbeck up front rather than Javier Hernandez, was finding it difficult to create chances. City policed its crosstown rival well and reached half-time 1-0 ahead.
United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson had plenty to think about at the intermission — and even more when the second-half opened in sensational fashion. Evans found himself chasing Balotelli and brought down the City player outside the United area. Clattenburg produced a red card and United was in more trouble.
It came as no surprise when Balotelli scored again on 60 minutes, finishing a neat City move involving Silva and Milner.
The visiting team was making the most of its extra man and United struggled to find any attacking fluency. With its defense failing to compensate for the absence of Evans, Sergio Aguero had an easy task of making it 3-0 in the 69th minute.
Balotelli was substituted by Roberto Mancini and his replacement Edin Dzeko nearly made it four in the 76th minute but was denied by De Gea.
United fans, bewildered by what they had seen in the second half, had something to cheer when Darren Fletcher finished smartly to narrow the deficit on 81 minutes.
But City had plenty more to come. Dzeko scored on 90 minutes as United’s defense appeared to give up the ghost. Silva made it five in stoppage time before Dzeko helped himself to another for a 6-1 final score.