Pep Guardiola has one Man City player in mind to help unlock Raheem Sterling in Manchester derby

The last meeting between Manchester City and Manchester United played out less like a derby and more like an exhibition.

Pep Guardiola's side were utterly dominant at Old Trafford back in November, establishing a 2-0 lead before half-time before turning the second half into a training session as they slowly suffocated United by depriving them of possession.

An A-list cast of stars including Phil Foden, Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva all started the game but it was an - at the time - unlikely creative source who orchestrated United's downfall.

Joao Cancelo's third season at City has been a superb one, reflected by his signing of a two-year contract extension at the beginning of February.

After enduring a tough first season in Manchester which ended with him asking to leave the club, Cancelo bounced back at the beginning of 2021 in an inverted right-back role.

However, this campaign has seen him switch flanks and become City's first-choice left-back, a role few would have envisioned him filling but one that has seen him play the best football of his career.

Pushing into midfield when City have the ball, Cancelo has become a crucial cog in City's intricate and often devastating attack. The combinations of passes, movements, overlaps and underlaps that he pulls off with City's left-sided number eight - usually Bernardo Silva or Ilkay Gundogan - and left-winger - any one of Foden, Raheem Sterling or Jack Grealish - are at times mesmerising.

Cancelo has become a unique attacking threat for City, as seen during the 2-0 win back in November.

Time and time again City found joy attacking down the left-hand side, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka unable to cope with the constant rotations and movements of Cancelo, Foden and Gundogan.

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