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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes the bond between Manchester United players and fans is returning after completing a first Premier League derby double over Manchester City for 10 years at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Anthony Martial and Scott McTominay took advantage of errors from City goalkeeper Ederson to keep United hot on the heels of Chelsea for a top-four finish, just three points behind the Blues.
United have lived in City's shadow in recent years, but have beaten their city rivals three times this season and are now unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions.
"The desire, attitude, commitment, the connection between fans and players," said Solskjaer on what had pleased him most. "What a day they've had today.
"It's a derby. The fans love it, the players love it. You can say it's only three points, but to beat a team like Manchester City with the problems we've had is fantastic."
United move up to fifth in the table, which could be good enough to qualify for the Champions League next season if City's appeal against a ban from European football for the next two years is not successful at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
And on this display, City seem to already be concentrating on completing a treble of cup competitions this season.
A seventh league defeat of the campaign for Pep Guardiola's men means Liverpool are now just a maximum of two wins away from claiming a first league title in 30 years.
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (L) consoles his City counterpart Pep Guardiola during their Premier League match at Old Trafford, Manchester, March 8, 2020. /VCG
City dominated possession early on, but badly missed the presence of the injured Kevin De Bruyne.
The visitors' defensive deficiencies that have allowed Liverpool to streak 25 points clear were also obvious as Daniel James and Martial fired too close to Ederson with big chances on the counter-attack.
But it was an uncharacteristic error from the Brazilian that gifted United the lead.
Bruno Fernandes was the creator with a scooped free-kick to pick out Martial and his shot squeezed under Ederson's right hand at the near post.
Then Ederson escaped gifting another goal as a routine backpass rolled under his foot and the former Benfica stopper needed to produce a last-ditch tackle on Martial to deny United breathing space.
However, where United may have buckled earlier in the season, Solskjaer's men held firm as De Gea denied Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus.
McTominay then sealed the three points deep into stoppage time when he strode onto a wayward throw by Ederson to steer the ball into an unguarded net.
"It's part of the game. He will recover and is an exceptional goalkeeper," said Guardiola of an error-strewn afternoon for Ederson.
Meanwhile, Frank Lampard warned Chelsea not to get complacent after they took control of the race to qualify for the Champions League with a 4-0 demolition of Everton on Sunday.
Lampard's side won for just the second time in seven league games thanks to goals from Mason Mount, Pedro, Willian and Olivier Giroud in a masterful display at Stamford Bridge.
Fourth-placed Chelsea are in pole position to qualify for the Champions League with nine games to play. But Lampard doesn't want his stars to rest on their laurels just yet.
Aware that inconsistency has been the Achilles heel of his promising young team, Lampard said: "We can't get ahead of ourselves. I'm experienced enough to know we go to Aston Villa next week, they are fighting for their lives and we have to replicate this performance.
"There's still a long way to go. It's still close. Even if it looks like a cushion as I sit here now, it doesn't feel that way."
Elsewhere in Italy, Aaron Ramsey starred as Juventus beat title rivals Inter Milan 2-0 on Sunday to reclaim top spot in Serie A in a game played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Antonio Conte's third-placed Inter are now nine points adrift, but with a game in hand on Juve and Lazio.
Douglas Costa went closest in a tight first half, but was denied by an excellent save from Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic.
Juventus beat Inter Milan to go top of the Serie A table in an empty Allianz Stadium, Turin, March 8, 2020. /VCG
The hosts broke the deadlock 10 minutes after the break, as Cristiano Ronaldo got to a low ball first inside the box, with it then falling kindly for Ramsey to sweep a low shot into the net from close range.
It was the Wales midfielder's fourth goal of the season after joining Juve from Arsenal last year.
The 29-year-old created his side's second goal 12 minutes later, playing a neat one-two with Paulo Dybala, who wriggled clear of two defenders and fired home.
Inter substitute Christian Eriksen went close to pulling one back when he drilled a shot narrowly over the crossbar.
Things went from bad to worse for the away side when Daniele Padelli, sitting on the substitutes' bench, was shown a red card for dissent.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic's fourth goal since returning to AC Milan could not prevent the seven-time European champions from slipping to a 2-1 loss at home to struggling Genoa.
Milan remain seventh, three points off a Europa League place.
Real Madrid in frustration during their La Liga clash with Real Betis at Benito Villamarin stadium, Sevilla, March 8, 2020. /VCG
In Spain, Real Madrid's response to winning the Clasico was another surprise defeat on Sunday as they lost 2-1 away at Real Betis to hand the initiative straight back to Barcelona.
Betis were deserving victors of a thrilling contest at the Benito Villamarin where two galling Madrid errors cost them their place at the top of La Liga, with Barca now two points clear.
A heavy touch from Sergio Ramos led to Sidnei’s stunning opener for Betis and then Karim Benzema, who equalized with a penalty on the stroke of half-time, was at fault for their 82nd-minute winner.
Benzema's misplaced pass in midfield allowed Cristian Tello to go clear and he held his nerve to give Betis their first victory in eight games that adds yet another twist to this season's back-and-forth title race.
"We lacked everything today," said Real coach Zinedine Zidane.
"It was our worst game of the season. We lacked energy, fluency, possession, aggression. It was a bad day and that can happen. I am responsible. We can’t lose our heads but we can't be happy either."
In Germany, Thomas Mueller scored as Bayern Munich opened up a four-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga with a 2-0 victory over Augsburg at the Allianz Arena on Sunday.
Bayern lacked fluency in the opening stages despite scoring 13 goals in their previous three Bundesliga games, but did enough to edge closer to an eighth straight title.
Bayern extended their unbeaten run to 15 games despite starting slowly. It was not until near the end of the first half when the home side looked like troubling the scorers, with Mueller shooting over the crossbar with just the keeper to beat.
Mueller made no mistake in the 53rd minute however, collecting a long ball from Jerome Boateng and side-footing into the net.
The goal, reminiscent of the prolific Mueller of a decade ago, continued his recent strong form under manager Hansi Flick. Since Flick took over, Mueller has scored six Bundesliga goals and assisted 12 more in 15 games.
Leon Goretzka put the game beyond doubt with a goal in second-half stoppage time after being expertly fed by Serge Gnabry before dribbling the ball past keeper Andreas Luthe.
(AFP)
