The Premier League champions were humiliated in a 4-1 defeat to City at the Etihad Stadium, putting pressure on the new Old Trafford boss already

By Greg Stobart at Etihad Stadium
David Moyes took on the impossible job of succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson knowing he faced the sternest of challenges in Manchester United’s early season fixtures, but he could never have anticipated such a humiliating defeat in his first derby.
It was beyond dreadful, a day to forget. Moyes made it clear in his post-match press conference that he had made the players aware in no uncertain that they had produced an unacceptable performance.
The Scot can only hope that the David Moyes hairdryer treatment can have the same galvanising affect as that of his predecessor.
In three major Premier League tests - against Chelsea, Liverpool and City - Moyes has now picked up just one point and scored a solitary goal, Wayne Rooney’s late free-kick here.
The parallels with the 6-1 defeat to City at Old Trafford in 2011-12 are inescapable, the echoes of a day Ferguson described as his “worst ever” in his 26 years in charge of the club.
On that occasion, City scored three goals in the dying minutes to humiliate their rivals; this time United were hung, drawn and quartered within five minutes of the second-half. If anything, it was even worse, so total was City’s dominance from the first whistle.
Moyes pointed to the fixture list as a major reason behind United’s worst start to a campaign since the 2004-05 season. “I think any manager would have found it difficult taking over the club with that run of fixtures. If those games were later in the season I might have had a better understanding.