Manchester United demolition highlights Man City U21s off-pitch progress

Manchester City scored six past Manchester United for the second time this season in the Premier League 2, yet their head coach was more pleased with the discipline and mentality they showed than the goals they scored.

After racing into a two-goal lead within 15 minutes, City were boosted by a red card for United defender Sonny Aljofree on Saturday and a quick third that killed the contest. United would try and limit the goals against them from that point, bringing on 36-year-old coach Tom Huddlestone, and the second half was a much slower affair.

Still, City remained patient and added three more late on to complete their rout, and head coach Brian Barry-Murphy chose to focus on the mental strength of his side.

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City had beaten United 6-1 in the reverse fixture - a scoreline Barry-Murphy felt gave a false impression on the game - and he praised his players for learning the lessons from that game and also their recent UEFA Youth League defeat at Hajduk Split.

"Despite outside perception I think we had a really healthy respect for the opposition," Barry-Murphy told MEN Sport. "We were clear we felt the scoreline in the corresponding fixture was a little misleading because it was tough for long spells. We have very dangerous players who can score goals late in the game when it became stretched and it did.

"So we were conscious of that and you saw how much we respected the opponents by how we played in the first half. The game obviously changed significantly when they had a man sent off. Before that our play was exceptional.

"We had some moments out of possession that we found difficult in the first game. It's normal, the