Manchester United 2 - Manchester City 1

Wayne Rooney's sensational 77th minute overhead kick gave Manchester United the derby spoils as they claimed a 2-1 victory over Manchester City at Old Trafford.

The Blues had the better of the game but trailed to Nani's first-half opener.

David Silva's deflected effort looked as though it would get them at least a point until Rooney - putting recent woes behind him - finished Nani's cross with a quite staggering overhead kick to leave United eight points ahead of their rivals with a match in hand.

City should have been ahead after only three minutes. Silva started an intricate move that also involved Micah Richards before Carlos Tevez threaded a brilliant pass through to the Spain international, leaving him completely clear deep inside the penalty area.

Edwin van der Sar advanced quickly, forcing Silva to make an instant decision, the former Valencia star turning in anguish as his delicate prod rolled just wide of the far post.

Having done so well, City would have been cursing at the manner in which they were opened up.

One long ball from Van der Sar, which Rooney flicked on to Ryan Giggs. A neat pass from the Welshman and Nani was in, his first touch taking him away from Pablo Zabaleta before he steadied himself, then beat goalkeeper Joe Hart with clinical ease.

It was not until City boss Roberto Mancini had called Shaun Wright-Phillips and Edin Dzeko off the bench that they got their equaliser.

Dzeko's shot from Wright-Phillips' cross was going well wide of the goal when it struck Silva on the back, the deflection leaving Van der Sar totally helpless.

But Rooney met Nani's cross with a jaw-dropping overhead kick that sent the ball into the far corner for a stunning winner .

TODAY'S RESULTS

Arsenal 2 (van Persie 16, 56) Wolverhampton 0

Birmingham 1 (Zigic 90) Stoke 0

Blackburn 0 Newcastle 0

Blackpool 1 (Grandin 14) Aston Villa 1 (Agbonlahor 10)

Liverpool 1 (Meireles 24) Wigan 1 (Gohouri 65)

Manchester United 2 (Nani 41, Rooney 78) Manchester City 1 (Silva 65)

West Bromwich 3 (Dorrens 2, Thomas 8, Reid 32-og) West Ham 3 (Ba 50, 83 Cole 58)

Playing later

Sunderland v Tottenham

Playing Sunday

Bolton v Everton

Playing Monday

Fulham v Chelsea

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.