• Premier League

'United were the main team in the city - now it's different'

Pablo Zabaleta believes Manchester City have changed history by ending decades of domination by Manchester United in their local rivalry.

The right-back was part of a City team who secured a fourth successive derby win, which is their best run for 44 years, by beating United 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

But before the match, United manager Louis van Gaal had warned City that it would take years for them to reach United's level as a global superpower.

How United 'won' the derby

United are on the up, says Barnes © Getty Images

• The scoresheet may have told a different story, but Manchester United gained the upper hand over rivals City on Sunday, writes Simon Barnes.
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City had only been champions of England twice before winning two of the last three league titles and Zabaleta was confident they are making giant strides.

He said: "All I can say is that Manchester City's players and the owners are doing a big, big effort to be a top team not just in Manchester but also in the Premier League and also in Europe and it's a different history now than years ago where United was the main team in the city. Now it's a bit different."

Zabaleta claimed the results are showing there has been a shift in the balance of power in Manchester.

"Obviously it's not like it was before," he added. "We are dominating at the moment in the derby games. But that shows how Manchester City are improving year after year.

"We don't want to be just the best team in the league but also in Manchester."

Whereas City won last season's derbies 4-1 and 3-0, they only managed a solitary goal on Sunday and, after scoring 156 times in all competitions in 2013-14, they are proving less prolific in the current campaign.

The right-back added: "We are not scoring goals like last season where we were probably more clinical and sometimes when you don't kill the game early you can feel the pressure like we did at the end. United have important players up front. Sometimes they can create problems."

City face CSKA Moscow in the Champions League on Wednesday, still looking for their first win in Europe this season.

"It's another huge game," Zabaleta said. "We were very unlucky the last time we played them. We drew and we were winning 2-0 but obviously it's a crucial point for us. We need a win because if not it's going to be very hard to qualify for the next round."

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