Manchester derby once again an exercise in contrasts: How City took advantage of United's sloppy defense

The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same in Manchester. Years after the balance of power shifted in Manchester City's direction, Pep Guardiola's side lived up to the billing as the clear favorites in the derby with a 3-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday by taking advantage of the visitors' persistent inability to defend, even with fresh faces in each side's lineup.

There may have been just one point separating the rivals before the game kicked off but as the match started to play out, it felt as the gap between the teams' overall qualities began to widen. Even as Erling Haaland earned a spot in the record books to go joint-top with City's Sergio Aguero and United's Wayne Rooney as the top Premier League goal scorer in the Manchester derby with his brace, defense was naturally the game's main talking point, with both Guardiola and Ruben Amorim locking in new first-choice goalkeepers for the season. City's Gianluigi Donnarumma and United's Altay Bayindir could not have had more different experiences in their first Manchester derbies, the latest example in contrasts between two rivals that cannot help highlighting their differences.

Donnarumma, a deadline day signing who played his first game for City on Sunday, had almost nothing to do as the Red Devils' unimpressive attack generated just two shots on target. The Italy international did make one impressive diving save in the second half on a shot from Bryan Mbeumo, easing his way into life in England ahead of stiffer tests in the UEFA Champions League against Napoli and Arsenal in the Premier League in the coming week.

The same was not true for Bayindir, who was slow to react to Foden's first-half goal and could not live up to the task of going one-on-one with Haaland on either of the forward's second-half goals. That type of play is starting to become a habit for the new United No. 1, who has been shaky since getting the job at the start of the season. He is less chaotic than Andre Onana, who is now on a season-long loan to Trabzonspor, but Bayindir has been outmuscled by opponents and seems half a second behind the Premier League's attacking talents. He may technically be an improvement but the 27-year-old may not actually be what the Red Devils need to accomplish the improvements they are in desperate need of. To be fair to Bayindir, though, he is far from the only culprit.

United's defense was shambolic throughout the match, creating the havoc that saw things go from bad to worse for Bayindir. On a weekly basis, they rack up different examples in simple defensive errors, sometimes a few at a time. Take for example, Haaland's first goal in the 53rd minute, which saw Nico O'Reilly nutmeg Manuel Ugarte as he sent the ball Foden's way, the England international with plenty of space around him to take a turn and then quickly make a pass to Jeremy Doku. United's players tried to close the space but at that point, it was too little too late and by the time Haaland slotted the ball into the back of the net, there were five red shirts in the box chasing him, the sign of an ineffective defensive plan.

As Amorim added yet another loss to his record, forcing questions about whether he will make it to Halloween, let alone Christmas, the patterns of defeat are set. The fact that a sloppy defense would cost United against City was predictable because it was not the first time it cost them, and it feels like it will not be the last time. The Red Devils may have played just six games in all competitions this season but it is clear that their rebuild to match Amorim's tactical vision has not worked. The players – of his choice – have not made United noticeably better and Amorim's in-game management does not help matters. While his unwillingness to switch out of his preferred formation will garner a lot of attention but his substitutions were head-scratchers on Sunday, making a defensive swap after going down 2-0 by bringing on Harry Maguire for Leny Yoro, perhaps with blind hope that the center back would score on a dead-ball situation.

Amorim did not make an attacking change until the 80th minute – after they were down 3-0 – by bringing on Joshua Zirkzee, which is maybe an indictment on the squad composition as a whole. The problem at United has always been bigger than a single manager, even if that manager cannot help his own case. Fixing the Red Devils after a decade of poor squad building was never going to be a quick task but it is clear that they are not actually better than they were last season, still very far away from stringing together a competitive performance in a Manchester derby – or any meaningful match, for that matter.