Manchester Sunday: United and City Ignite for 13 Goals, Exciting Times Ahead

It is a good time to be a Manchester football fan.

United gashed an already wounded Arsenal team 8-2 just hours after City coasted to a 5-1 victory over Tottenham. The victims are supposed to be in the top echelon of Premier League clubs, and the two Manchester teams went to town on their respective opponents.

Both United and City have Champions League prospects this season, though United will have an easier path to the knockout stages. Nevertheless, exciting times are ahead for both Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini's sides.

United Blast the Gunners in Thumping Fashion

The headliners in United's match will be Wayne Rooney's hat trick and Ashley Young's three-assist, two-goal effort, but let that not take away anything from a completely dominating performance from all over the pitch.

Despite Davd De Gea's poor take on Theo Walcott's goal, the young goalkeeper had some bright moments, which included a saved Robin van Persie penalty.

Danny Welbeck opened the scoring barrage with a clever, headed flick-on between three Arsenal defenders and the keeper, but he would be forced out of the game later with a hamstring injury.

Nani could have made some better decisions, but he joined the goal-scoring party with a scooped shot over the keeper.

Park Ji Sung added United's seventh goal from the bench.

Defensively, United was solid against a depleted Arsenal attack. The two goals were conceded with comfortable leads, though one has De Gea at fault. It won't matter at all if United can continue scoring at this ferocious pace.

Young and Relentless

What should have every United fan beaming with excitement is how well and fluid Sir Alex Ferguson has his side playing with such young faces on the pitch. The average age of the 10 outfield players who started is 23.3 years old, and they are all playing with confidence, creativity and zero sense of entitlement after last year's championship season.

If Sir Alex can keep a considerable chunk of this core together for some time, we could be looking at an incredible power in English football in the near future.

Credit to Ferguson for snatching up Ashley Young and Phil Jones early in the transfer window and avoiding the huge-money signings later in the summer.

Champions League football will be an exciting time for United's faithful.

City Ride Stars

City had already disposed of Tottenham in a 5-1 effort by the time United took the pitch at Old Trafford, riding Edin Dzeko's four-goal performance. The Bosnian proved masterful in the box, hooking up with the newly signed Samir Nasri twice in the first half.

The former Arsenal midfielder recorded three assists in his debut for the club, proving to be a great addition to a City squad that is littered with goal-scoring options.

Sergio Aguero, another highly-priced summer signing, was the only other player to make the score sheet, but did so in powerful fashion, blasting his shot over Brad Friedel to bring City to a 4-0 lead.

Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure provided the assists for Dzeko's second-half goals.

Mancini's collection of star-studded footballers is finally executing at a fabulous rate, and with the Champions League Group Stages looming, City's good form has come at a splendid time.

Nasri a Missing Piece

There is no mistaking that the acquisition of Aguero is critical, but Nasri is the missing ingredient that can take this team to a higher level.

Mancini has brought one of Arsenal's offensive engines to Manchester and equipped him with a scary number of offensive weapons. From Dzeko to Aguero to David Silva to Adam Johnson to Carlos Tevez to Mario Balotelli, City has its options when goals are needed. Nasri brings the kind of creative midfield presence that can deliver balls and goal-scoring chances.

City's attack is ready to take off, and if Tevez truly does stay around for at least the first half of the season, he will only add to the club's menacing scoring prowess.

Although many are concerned about the wealth of talent not seeing enough time on the pitch, the vast number of league games, cup matches and Champions League fixtures will lead to enough opportunities to make concerted runs at more than one title.

Manchester is Hot

The class of the Premier League has to be United, who is competing at a level close to that of Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga. City will have to keep pace to match its rival's praise, and the club has the talent to do so.

If the first three rounds of match play is any indication of the competition between these two clubs, the entire campaign will be about the weekly jostling in Manchester.

A good time for football in Manchester? Definitely.