Those noisy neighbours were at it again. Too noisy, apparently, for Jose Mourinho who asked Manchester City to turn down the tunes as they celebrated in the away dressing room after a victory which extended their Premier League lead to a seemingly insurmountable 11 points.

Mourinho had liquids thrown at him, it appears, and went on to cry over spilt milk - lashing out at how “lucky” City were. But after the rinsing his team had taken out on the pitch, it did not wash.

It is mid-December, the snow is falling and, with it, all City’s rivals have surely drifted away with second-placed Manchester United the last to drop as they lost the 175th Manchester derby and were schooled, at times, by Pep Guardiola’s team.

City are also 14 points in front of champions Chelsea and 16 ahead of fourth-placed Liverpool. Their 46 points would have secured them a top-eight finish last season. And that is over 38 games, not 16. It will take some collapse to blow it.

What will hurt more for United and their supporters is that – the brilliant David Silva apart – City were not even at their best to win this encounter and gain a 14th successive league victory, a Premier League record. This was also their fourth league game in a row won 2-1.

In doing so they ended United’s proud record of 40 home matches without defeat – they needed one more to go ahead of Sir Matt Busby’s United in 1966 – a sequence that started in September last year. After City won here, how that will hurt.