And a player looks to be leaving Old Trafford.

City > United.

Scores on the doors.

Jamie Jackson was our man at Old Trafford. Here’s his verdict. Please click and enjoy ... and thank you for reading this MBM. Nighty night!

And now Ole. “From their first goal, especially from their second goal, we struggled to get to grips with them. We had a good reaction in the second half, that’s more like it. But in the first half before they scored it was there and back, there and back, no-one really dominated. But after they scored we didn’t cope with that setback well enough. We didn’t deal [with their system] well enough, we know they can play that way. They’re good at what they do. The first goal, there’s nothing we can do about that one. The second was a bit sloppy. And the third, we just didn’t recover from those goals. We got into their heads a bit at half-time and was better second half. It was about believing, wanting the ball, passing forward. Someone needed to take responsibility and they did that second half. We have shown before that we have been down from a home tie and turned it round, last year against PSG, so we’ve just got to believe, and hope we can put a performance on.”

Pep talks! “The first minutes were tight, but then it was an outstanding goal from Bernardo and we were really good. In the second half they changed their shape, but it is a good result. It is not over because it is United, see what they did in the Champions League against PSG. But hopefully in front of our fans we can make a good game and reach the final again.” He’s repeatedly asked whether he’s disappointed with the second-half performance, and eventually, understandably, loses a little patience. “We play against United. What do you expect? Zero-seven here, or what?! They played good and changed the situation, especially Greenwood between the lines, and we had a little problem. But we play at Old Trafford, against our rival, in a semi-final, and it was a fantastic result for us.”

Man-of-the-match Bernardo Silva speaks to Sky Sports: “The first half was pretty much the perfect 45 minutes. We could have even been winning four or five, because we missed a few chances. Then the second half was very hard for us, they started pressing higher. But overall it was a good performance and we are very happy with this win. Pep wanted one more man in the middle so put me in there, and I’m happy it worked. It’s never easy to come to Old Trafford against one of the best sides in England and in Europe, and to win 3-1.”

Kyle Walker adds: “The second half, they had to come out fighting. We knew what to expect, we had to control the game as much as possible and save our legs.”

90 min +2: Pereira tries to get something going down the left, but runs the ball out of play. On the touchline, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looks on impassively, all colour drained from his face.

90 min +1: But it’s City who are probing right now. Foden and Silva take turns to dribble on the edge of the United box. Neither can find a way through.

90 min: There will be three added minutes. United are going to lose a cup tie at home to their neighbours for the first time in their history. But if they can get another goal back, they’ll feel so much better about themselves. Can they find a tie-changer?

88 min: Rashford sends a no-backlift screamer towards the top right from 25 yards. An effort that stuns Bravo, who clumsily fumbles his save round the post, nearly pushing the ball into his own net. City don’t clear the first corner; they deal easily with the second.

87 min: Mahrez is replaced by Foden. Mahrez takes his sweet time to depart, and Fred tries to usher him off the playing field. Given he’s on a yellow, he’s taking a wee chance there. But the referee understands his frustration.

86 min: Mahrez looks like bursting free down the right. He’s well shepherded away from danger by Williams, who wins a rare defensive duel. A young player on a steep learning curve.

84 min: Martial slips Williams into space down the left. Williams crosses low and hard. There’s nobody in red taking a chance, and Bravo claims easily.

83 min: Rashford briefly threatens to break clear down the right, making space to shoot, but as he enters the box he’s robbed by Otamendi.

82 min: Walker is booked for faffing around in the professional style over a throw.

81 min: United make their final change. Greenwood is replaced by Anthony Martial.

80 min: But City are taking no unnecessary risks with their star man, and De Bruyne walks off, looking fine, to be replaced by Jesus.

78 min: De Bruyne clatters into Lindelof, and ends face down on the turf. For a second there’s panic all round, as De Bruyne lies stock still. But it’s soon clear he’s not been knocked out, and quickly enough he’s up and about again.

76 min: On the touchline, Pep bollocks his players with great feeling. He’s clearly not enamoured with their drop-off in intensity during this second half.

74 min: United back off De Bruyne as he drives down the left. They’re fortunate that the City playmaker gets the ball stuck a little under his feet before he can shoot, and then plays an uncharacteristically sloppy pass inside. The hosts clear.

73 min: A yellow card for Williams, who barges into the back of Mahrez with unnecessary force.

71 min: Well that’s got Old Trafford singing again. Sterling does his level best to quieten them down by tearing down the inside left and into the box, but he dallies over a shot and is forced to clip back for Mahrez, who clumps softly into the arms of De Gea.

69 min: Mahrez drops a shoulder to drift past Williams yet again, then slams a shot towards the bottom-left corner. De Gea sticks out a strong leg to save.

68 min: Williams bombs down the inside-left channel, a maverick run that nearly opens City up. Nearly, but not quite.

66 min: Mahrez sends Walker into acres down the right, Williams way out of position. Walker’s cross hits Jones on the hand, but from the sort of range that’s never leading to a penalty kick.

64 min: Rashford looks for the top-right corner of the goal. He finds the top-right corner of the Stretford End. Then United make their second change, replacing James with Angel Gomes.

63 min: Rodri is booked for a cynical clip on Pereira, who is skedaddling down the inside-right channel after a clever Lindelof pass. A free kick in Rashford Country.

61 min: Sterling breaks upfield as United throw men forward. He slips the ball left for Silva, who knocks it back infield for De Bruyne. De Bruyne takes a shot. It’s deflected off Matic, and breaks to Sterling, who is clear, only to fall over. He wants a penalty, but he’s not getting one. United living dangerously. Like that’s breaking news.

59 min: Mahrez briefly has an opportunity to slip Sterling clean through on goal, but fails to spot the run in time. United go up the other end, James chasing a long ball down the right. Bravo claims easily. James takes the opportunity to go shoulder to shoulder with Otamendi, barging his man over again. This developing battle’s worth keeping an eye on.

57 min: United spend a little bit of time in City’s final third. City are happy to sit back, leaving no gaps. United can’t work out a way through. James eventually clatters Otamendi, knee to knee. It’s no more than a foul, though VAR sticks its neb in, looking for trouble that isn’t there.

55 min: Mahrez tries to keep a loose ball in play down the right. Williams comes sliding in at 100mph. He’s fortunate not to make contact with Mahrez, because that was reckless. Mahrez does him a favour by leaping out of the way and giving up the goal kick. Williams has looked impressive on the front foot; he’s been a bit shaky in defence.

54 min: Williams clanks a clearance straight into Walker, who immediately feeds Mahrez down the right. Williams does well to get back and limit the damage to a corner. Mahrez takes. United half clear. Mendy loops the ball back to Mahrez, who chests down, facing a very tight angle on the right. His low shot clatters the post and goes out for a goal kick. Had it been on target, De Gea had it well covered.

52 min: Fred is booked for an obvious clip on Bernardo Silva’s heel. He gives referee Mike Dean what for. He’d do well to keep his counsel. The last thing United need is to go down to ten men.

51 min: Greenwood and James combine neatly down the inside-right channel, but just as the move begins to look promising, James runs the ball out for a goal kick.

50 min: De Bruyne dances down the left and pulls one back through a thicket for Sterling, who can’t sort his feet out on the edge of the box. For a split second, Old Trafford held its breath. The pensive sucking of teeth was also audible.

49 min: All a bit scrappy since the restart. A few defiant chants from the home faithful. Nothing much else to report. United will appreciate the respite.

47 min: Pereira slips a decent ball down the left for Rashford, who checks back and finds Fred. A few rat-a-tat passes on the edge of the box, and finally Williams sends a pea-roller towards the bottom left. Bravo gathers.

United get the second half underway. They’ll be looking to reboot just like Arsenal did last night in the FA Cup after being outplayed in the first 45 by Leeds. Problem is, of course, as good as Leeds are, they’re no Manchester City ... and Arsenal weren’t three goals down. Still, United need something, anything. Reaching this year’s League Cup final already looks to be a pipe dream, but they’ll be desperate for some sort of response. Or at least to not totally capitulate. To this end, Matic has been sent on for Lingard.

Half-time entertainment.

45 min: There will be one added minute. The next 60 seconds can’t go by quickly enough for Manchester United.

44 min: Pereira has a dig from 25 yards. United need something, anything. But not this. The ball flies harmlessly over the bar, miles off target.

43 min: For the second time, it’s nearly four, as De Bruyne whips a low ball across the face of goal from the right. Sterling will curse clipping his toenails last night, because he was a couple of millimetres away from poking home at the far post.

42 min: It’s important to remember that City have been quite outstanding since the get-go. Few teams could live with their relentless attacking. But of course the normal rules of analysis never apply in derby matches.

40 min: This is already embarrassing for United. It could get a whole lot worse. City win a corner out on the right. The ball’s worked all the way to Bernardo Silva on the left. He breaks clean through down the channel, and he’s one on one with De Gea. The keeper makes a sensational save, and it turns out Silva was offside anyway. United are in danger of totally capitulating.

36 min: United nearly find some succour as Fred plays a fizzing pass down the inside-left channel for Lingard, who cushions the ball towards Greenwood. The young striker drags a shot well wide right. But that’s given a worried Old Trafford a little something to go on.

35 min: A frustrated Lingard is shown the yellow card, sticking his studs up while chasing a heavy touch and catching Fernandinho. United need to clear their heads and quick, or this semi-final will get away from them very soon.

32 min: United win a corner out on the right. Fred’s delivery is not great, but only half cleared, allowing Pereira to swing one in from the same flank. The cross causes momentary panic in the City defence, but unfortunately for United, there’s nobody in red in a central position to latch onto the ball and poke home. A reminder that City are not infallible.

30 min: Bravo, quarterbacking from the goalkeeping position, sprays a lovely pass wide left for Sterling, who finds himself one on one with Wan-Bissaka. It looks very promising for City, until Sterling executes one shimmy too many and falls over, kicking the ball out for a goal kick. United fans take the rare opportunity to cheer.

28 min: Since the goal, City have enjoyed 70% possession. United are having to work at full pelt to plug all the gaps and keep City at arm’s length.

26 min: Williams is a prospect, and he drops a shoulder out on the left to make himself a lot of space, then slips James away further upfield. James knocks it inside to Lingard, who can’t decide whether to shoot or return the ball to James. The ball clanks through to Bravo. Some very nice play from deep by Williams, though.

24 min: Walker drives down the inside right at full speed. A crisp one-two with De Bruyne sends him free into the box. It’s another simple but glorious City move. Walker picks out Sterling on the penalty spot. Sterling shoots, but is denied by a combination of Wan-Bissaka and Lindelof. Blocked. Cleared. But that was so close to 0-2.

22 min: City continue to ping it about. United are struggling to retain any significant possession at the moment.

20 min: There’s been a wonderful atmosphere since kick-off, though that goal has dampened the majority’s spirits a little. The knowledge that City have won six of their last nine at Old Trafford may also be a factor. City fans in full voice.

18 min: United try to respond immediately, Pereira nearly sending James clear down the middle with a sliderule pass. But Bravo has been attentive, and he’s out quickly from his area to clear.

15 min: City hog the ball some more. They’ve had 57% possession so far. United will presumably be happy enough too, coiled to spring on the break as they are.

13 min: City take the pace down a notch by stroking it around the back for a while. The slowly advance forward. Mahrez has a gander down the right; Sterling probes down the left. And then back to Mahrez again. The treble-winners are beginning to establish a little control; it’s the first period of sustained possession by either side in the game so far.

11 min: A long ball down the middle. Rashford cushions a header into Greenwood’s path; the young striker wins a corner off Fernandinho, who was taking great care not to concede a penalty kick. The resulting corner comes to nothing. This has been great end-to-end fun so far. Mind you, Wolves-United at the weekend was pretty good for the first 15 minutes, and look what happened there, so let’s not get too carried away yet.

9 min: Mahrez sashays in from the right. He rolls the ball inside for Sterling, coming in from the other flank. Sterling momentarily has a chance to curl one into the top right, Curtis Jones style, but he’s quickly crowded out by a swarm of red shirts. The chance, split-second as it was, is gone.

8 min: United put their first meaningful attack together. Greenwood plays Rashford in down the right. Rashford takes one silky touch to glide past Otamendi with ease, but can’t find Lingard in the middle with his pullback from the halfway line.

7 min: ... Lindelof heads Gundogan’s near-post delivery powerfully clear. “I see that both teams are wearing white shorts,” notes Stephen Carr. “This could well cause VAR to malfunction whilst making tight offside calls and ultimately lead to the collapse of modern civilisation.” Oh that’s already jiggered. To be fair to VAR, association football’s going to be one of the last pieces to fall.

6 min: Sterling works his way down the left and wins the first corner of the evening. From which ...

4 min: James scampers down the right into an awful lot of space, and very nearly finds Greenwood in the middle with a fiercely whipped cross. Otamendi is positioned well to intercept and clear. The brisk pace of this match continues.

2 min: Well it didn’t take Phil Jones long to start sliding across the turf on his nipples. He nearly gifts possession to De Bruyne down the right in doing so, but he does just enough to usher the ball away from danger as he falls. You wouldn’t have him any other way.

1 min: Fernandinho, deep on the right, pearls a delightful crossfield ball towards Sterling, who briefly threatens to get away down the left. He can’t find a route through, so City settle for stroking it around the back instead. United are pressing hard; it’s a fast-paced start by both teams.

The first leg of the semi-final is go! City get the ball rolling; they’re kicking towards the Stretford End in this first half.

Here come the teams! United in red, City in blue. This is the one, warble the Stone Roses, though Ian, John, Reni and Mani’s retro jangle is nearly drowned out by the special Mancunian-derby roar that greets the players. Handshakes and coin-tossing going on all over the shop. We’ll be off in a minute!

Why has Pep left Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus on the bench? “I decide for this team,” he tells Sky Sports. Was it anything to do with the last game against United? “No.” Will it be a different game? “We will try to make a lot of passes.” Does it suit that the first leg is away? “It doesn’t matter.” Giving the square root of nothing away there, just the right side of disdain. His old mentor Louis van Gaal would be proud.

Some late, breaking team news. Manchester City have two big names positioned in the away end tonight: Oleksandr Zinchenko and Taylor Harwood-Bellis, the latter, by the looks of it, popping into the little room to do some falling water.

Solskjaer speaks! “If we create as many chances as we did last month, I’ll be happy! But of course we’re playing against a good team so you can’t expect to create that many. We were excellent that night, hopefully we can see that tonight. We’re a young team with lots of energy, so hopefully we’ll see something similar. Every game is big for Manchester United, so we are going to go out there and enjoy it, give our best, and see where it takes us.”

Look at the quality of the embroidery on this corner flag! That’s some top-notch stitching. You could forgive Manchester United for whacking a cheap transfer onto an old sheet and making do; it’s going to be soaked by the end of the 90 after all, as players repeatedly wipe their muddy paws on it. But no, they’ve refused to cut corners, almost literally, marking them out as the sort who always use the best linen and uncork the good wine when folk come round for dinner. Say what you like about Old Trafford; it may have seen better days, there may be water coming through the roof, but the old pile will always have that indefinable class.

No out-and-out striker for Manchester City there, you will have noticed. Cue much speculation over the possible jiggery-pokery Pep has cooked up in response to the recent derby defeat at the Etihad, where United ripped the champions to shreds for the first 30 minutes or so, a period of extreme dominance that proved more than enough for a shock win. In other news, United defender Harry Maguire has been ruled out with a foot injury.

Both managers have made plenty of changes to the sides sent out for FA Cup battle last weekend. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer makes six from the side that drew at Wolves: David de Gea, Phil Jones, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Fred and Aaron-Wan Bissaka take the places of Sergio Romero, Harry Maguire, Ashley Young, Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic and Tahith Chong.

Pep Guardiola makes eight changes to the team that beat Port Vale. The only survivors from that starting XI are Claudio Bravo, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva. In come Kyle Walker, Raheem Sterling, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne, Nicolas Otamendi, Riyad Mahrez, Benjamin Mendy and Fernandinho.