The knives were quickly sharpened in the Sky Sports studio, with Manchester United branded 'shameful' for 'giving up' at the Etihad Stadium.
Roy Keane and Gary Neville tore into United. 'Throwing in the towel,' said Keane. Neville added: 'Finished like an absolute shower.'
But Pep Guardiola wanted to shift the narrative and point out Manchester City were quite good, too, as they went six points clear of Liverpool and widened the gap to United to 22.
In not allowing United a shot after half-time and boasting an eye-watering 92 per cent possession for 15 minutes in the second period, they blitzed their beleaguered visitors rather than the beleaguered visitors beating themselves.