Palhinha marked his first start for us in the Premier League with a goal as we stunned City at the Etihad again on Saturday.
The midfielder was magnificent in a complete team performance and was joined on the scoresheet by Brennan Johnson as we forged into a 2-0 lead in the first half. Once again, our defensive structure was impressive but it wasn't just about sitting in - the final shot count was 12-10 in our favour and there is no doubt we were the deserved winners of this encounter - our third win in five at City.
Thomas Frank made two changes in his second Premier League game in charge. Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur came in for Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, who anchored the midfield in our 3-0 win against Burnley on opening weekend. City also made two changes with Rayan Cherki and Omar Marmoush in for Bernardo Silva and Jeremy Doku.
Palhinha and Bentancur provided the extra layer of protection in front of the back four and City's best chaces arrived in the early stages as Guglielmo Vicario twice denied Marmoush, the second the pick after Erling Haaland's pass cut us open and left Marmoush clear in front of goal - Vicario out like a shot to block.
We took the lead on 35 minutes, a well-crafted goal. Pedro Porro clipped up to Sarr, who won a big header on halfway to send Richarlison clear in the right channel. As we've seen so often, Johnson timed his run to perfection to finish first-time from 12 yards. The offside flag went straight up, but it felt like a tight call - and VAR went our way, with Richy onside.
Mo Kudus almost got through again before we doubled our lead two minutes into added time. This time, Trafford played out to Nico Gonzalez, Sarr was all over him and won possession, Trafford managed to scramble the ball away from Richarlison but it fell to Palhinha, who buried from 12 yards.
It felt like we were in complete control in the second half. City saw plenty of possession, as expected, but didn't really open us up - their best chances fell to Nathan Ake and Jeremy Doku, both brilliant snubbed out by challenges from Palhinha and Micky van de Ven.
At the other end, we had chances on the break. Johnson curled just over, Richarlison looped a couple of headers just wide and Wilson Odobert was inches away from Lucas Odobert's cut back. Indeed, when Trafford made a late double save from Dominic Solanke and Odobert, it took the shot tally to 12-10 in our favour - no doubting that the points went to the right home, in N17!