Man City Dominant in Telling League Cup Semifinal Win at Man United

Man City took a step toward another League Cup final by outclassing Man United at Old Trafford.

It should come as no surprise that Manchester City is a vastly superior team than Manchester United at this point in time, but it's still jarring to see the gulf in class put into practice.

Pep Guardiola's Man City eased by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Man United, 3-1 at Old Trafford, in the first leg of their League Cup semifinal, taking a big step toward reaching the final and playing for a third straight title and fourth in five seasons.

The two clubs have combined to win the last four, with Man United disrupting Man City's run with a 2017 triumph. While it's fair to question whether the third-tier cup competition truly matters to the clubs that are supposed to be contending for domestic and European titles, it's still another showcase and chance at a trophy–and in this case a chance for a club to make a statement at the expense of its rival.

Perhaps City was motivated by the surprise 2-1 defeat it was handed at the Etihad in Premier League play a month ago, but this was a decisive victory for the blue half of Manchester, which guarded against United's counter and struck with moments of class.

Bernardo Silva emphatically opened the scoring with a left-footed blast from outside the box in the 17th minute, setting the stage for what would follow.

BERNARDO SILVA WITH A PERFECT STRIKE 🤯

Stream on ESPN+ ➡️ https://t.co/clGTXhxW48 pic.twitter.com/fHzaP1zECb

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 7, 2020

Riyad Mahrez rounded David de Gea to make it 2-0 in the 33rd, five minutes before a Kevin de Bruyne-induced own goal on Andreas Pereira took a piece of Phil Jones's soul and rendered the rest of the tie seemingly over.

Phil Jones has a family, Kevin De Bruyne. pic.twitter.com/TUx0I4MhVt

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 7, 2020

Marcus Rashford's 70th-minute goal pulled one back for United and provided a bit of a lifeline, but it's hard to see the tables being turned in three weeks at the Etihad after the overall picture that was painted on Tuesday.

Marcus Rashford pulls one back for Man United! He has now scored 17 goals across all competitions this season.

Stream #MUNMCI on ESPN+ ➡️ https://t.co/M15Q8TfS4a pic.twitter.com/Ex2Q4a0p7Q

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 7, 2020

The performance emphasized the gap in quality between the two at a time when United's squad and manager are under constant assessment to determine whether they're good enough. One plays into the other, naturally, and Solskjaer can only play who is available to him. For now, what's important is whether that's good enough for a top-four finish in the league, because it's evident that, on the whole, it's not good enough to contend at the top of the table with its neighbor.

City sits 13 points clear of United in the table now, a year after finishing an astounding 32 points better than the Red Devils and two years removed from besting a second-place United by 19 points for the title. Not since 2015-16 have the two been even level on points over the course of a season. 

Based on all available evidence, it doesn't look like that gap is closing anytime soon.