Pep Guardiola hails Jack Grealish and seven more Man City players who destroyed Manchester United

Pep Guardiola hailed an 'exceptional' landmark performance from Jack Grealish in a Manchester City shirt as he helped the Blues assert derby dominance over Manchester United.

Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez got two goals each as City completed a double over United, but Grealish was involved in everything his side did. The £100m signing has taken time to adapt to City's methods since joining from Aston Villa, but Guardiola said he noticed a new attribute to Grealish's game that contributed to an 'excellent' performance.

Guardiola was quick to praise a lot of his players after the win, but namechecked eight in particular who helped City create such an impressive overload on the left that United had no answer to.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Guardiola said of Grealish: "He was excellent. [At one] moment he will understand in the final third, 'this ball is from me'. He is very generous.

"When you see Phil [Foden] and Riyad in that moment, it is their ball. This is the next step for Jack, but in terms of decision-making and using players in space, he was exceptional."

And in an interview with Sky Sports, Guardiola praised a handful of other players who were so important in stopping United from getting anything from the game.

He said: "In the first half we had chances on the counter-attack more than possession. In their half we were good but we struggled to arrive there to drop the opponent in their half.

"In the second half, Bernardo [Silva] was involved and Rodri more involved, Aymeric [Laporte] takes the personality to play between the lines, the movement from Jack, Phil, Kevin was excellent.

"We played really good. People can say everything, I know the respect I have for United, the quality and physicality and personality in