John Stones targeted by Pep Guardiola as Man City beat Manchester United

Guardiola turns to Stones

For a man whose team were ahead on the scoreboard for 84 of the 90 minutes, Pep Guardiola spent large chunks of this derby win agitated on the touchline. Even when they were 2-1 up in the second half, it required the fourth official to pull him away from the pitch more than once as he tried to get his message across.

Those are just the standards set by the Manchester City manager, yet it was telling that so often he went to John Stones to get his instructions across. That was less to do with Stones being at fault for anything and more about his importance to the build-up play.

City may be weaker without Ruben Dias, who is out for at least a month, but there can be no doubting the strength of Stones to the cause. As well as his contribution to the defence, the England man was key in putting his team on the front foot.

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Grealish rises to the occasion

Fresh from his goal at Peterborough, Jack Grealish may have been a surprise starter ahead of Raheem Sterling but looked like a man with newfound confidence. This was his best performance in a City shirt, combining with Bernardo Silva to set up the opening goal and giving Aaron Wan-Bissaka a torrid time all afternoon.

If the former Villa man can harness what he has managed this week, he will be a different proposition for opponents for the remaining months of the season.

Sterling right to bide his time

Sterling understandably wasn't so sure about his future at the club earlier in the season when he wasn't starting the big games, and he understandably wasn't overly keen to commit when that began to change. Despite the buzz around his return to the team, he