Pablo Zabaleta believes he and Gael Clichy snuffed out the threat of Angel Di Maria in the Manchester derby and feels his Argentina teammate did not make much of an impact in the game.
Manchester City ran out 1-0 winners on Sunday thanks to a goal from another of the five Argentina internationals on show, Sergio Aguero.
Zabaleta says he had been concerned about Di Maria ahead of the game, but felt the former Real Madrid man struggled to impress at the Etihad Stadium, whether up against him or Clichy when he switched flanks in the second half.
"I think he was quiet. I said in midweek he is the main player for United now," Zabaleta told reporters. "He's the player who can make a difference but I think we pressed him. Clichy was fantastic against him in the second half. He played in the first half on my side and I think defensively we were solid."
City had lost their two previous games -- against West Ham and Newcastle -- but Zabaleta says manager Manuel Pellegrini's composed approach ahead of the Manchester derby helped the team get back to their best against their local rivals.
"Manuel is a manager who is always trying to keep calm. He spoke to the players and told us we needed to improve," he said. "The players are self-critical too and we knew we had to improve our individual performances. We had to get back to our best form to be the team that we used to be -- sharp, clinical and aggressive. This is the team we want to see week-in, week-out."
Zabaleta was delighted with the way City responded against United after losing key players to injuries. Playmaker David Silva was ruled out with a knee problem that will keep him sidelined for three weeks, while Aleksandar Kolarov, who was due to start instead of Clichy, was a late withdrawal.
"There's always negativity when things go wrong. We lost David Silva, who is one of our most important players, and Kolarov in the warm-up," Zabaleta said. "Things go wrong and we knew we needed to perform much better to win that game."