MANCHESTER - Manchester City's joyous fans celebrated into the night after what they hope will be the decisive blow to bitter rivals United's title bid.
At the end of a day that had been full of emotion as the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster was marked with a minute's silence - which was observed perfectly inside the stadium - United's hold on the their title was weakened.
If leaders Arsenal beat Blackburn at the Emirates on Monday, the Gunners will have a five-point lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League.
It will make next weekend's clash between the top two absolutely critical, with United going into the game with their confidence shattered after this 2-1 defeat.
United coach Carlos Queiroz insisted that the team "will fight to the last for their title", but that was certainly contrary to anything the 75,000-plus Old Trafford crowd witnessed on Sunday.
City were excellent, winning with first-half goals from Darius Vassell and Benjani Mwaruwari on his debut. United could only reply with an injury-time strike from Michael Carrick and it was never going to be enough.
Blues boss Sven-Goran Eriksson was delighted with his team and the club's fans, who had risked public vilification if any of their number ruined the pre-match silence.
Eriksson said: "I am extremely proud of our team. If you go to Old Trafford and win you deserve it.
"But everyone who belongs to City, players, officials, must be proud of what our fans did here. Their behaviour was fantastic. And I am extremely honoured to be the club's manager.
"I have never been involved in a ceremony like that before, it was a very nice experience to be able to pay our respects. The two teams together, and all the fans, absolutely silent for one minute. It was beautiful.
"There has been a little concern for everyone at the club, maybe even the fans, that something may go wrong. But they were not just good, they were perfect."
Eriksson was equally effusive when it came to his team's display.
He added: "Everyone was wonderful. The goalkeeper was good, all the defence and midfield were good, Benjani up front was excellent - I am really proud of the players and also our fans.
"Benjani did very well, he is quick and keeps the ball, he also works very well defensively.
"I am also very proud of our fans, they were perfect before the game and fantastic right through the 90 minutes.
"I understand the history, and the last time City won here or did the double over United. It was far too long and we have not corrected that.
"It was time to put that right, and we have done it and given our fans something special."
Sir Alex Ferguson did not conduct any media interviews after the game. The United boss was heading for the airport straight after the final whistle to catch a plane to South Africa where he will be promoting the club's pre-season tour.
Queiroz was left to try to explain United's poor showing.
He said: "It was just not our day, we tried to win as always, but collectively and individually we were not good.
"We did not play in the right way. We had no tempo and no inspiration. We started the game okay, but we were trying to win the game too early.
"They were always trying to catch us on the counter-attack, it concerned our defenders and that is what cost us the game."
He added: "We know this result will give Arsenal encouragement in the title race, but we will have a week now before our next game against Arsenal.
"We still have a strong belief that this was only an accident, and it is important that we show in our next game that this was only an accident, no more. We will fight for the title."
