The stats say Fellaini was BETTER than Toure in the Manchester derby... but here's where Moyes' gameplan fell apart in 4-1 defeat

                         

Anyone who watched Manchester City’s demolition of Manchester United will have seen Yaya Toure rampant in the midfield, scoring in the 4-1 win while new Old Trafford man Marouane Fellaini looked all at sea.

But the statistics from the game tell a very different story.

Incredibly, the numbers appear to show that Belgian midfielder Fellaini had a better game than the Ivorian, despite the result.

Fellaini made more total passes than Toure with a more accurate success rate and also covered more ground, with far more accurate passes in the opposition half.

It’s in-keeping with the story of the game. United had 58 per cent possession at the Etihad stadum, but David Moyes’ side were incredibly wasteful with the ball - even when the game was over as a contest.

City, on the other hand, made much more use of their possession, often driving through the middle of the pitch, without a meaningful United challenge to stop them.

Of course, Fellaini didn’t actually have a more impressive game than Toure. The Ivorian's clinical nature - he created two gilt-edged opportunities for his side to Fellaini's none, grabbing himself a goal to boot - compared with the new United signing typified City's performance over their local rivals.

United’s central midfielders, depsite having more possession were completely overwhelmed by the Manchester City machine.

The average pitch positions of each teams shows City as a unit in the middle of the pitch, while United are roughly set out in a fairly basic 4-4-2 formation.

Full-backs Chris Smalling (12) and Patrice Evra (3) are bombed on forward - Evra even advanced on Ashley Young (18), but United’s width did them a massive disservice.

Fellaini (31) and Michael Carrick (16) were left isolated in the middle of the pitch, with only four players - and two of them, Danny Welbeck (19) and Wayne Rooney (10), strikers - in a space where City had six.

Matija Nastasic (33) was allowed effectively play in the space of a defensive midfielder due to the space City were afforded by United. This meant Samir Nasri (8) could drift inside to link Toure (42) and Fernandinho (25) with attackers Sergio Aguero (16) and Alvaro Negredo (9). 

Width was provided by Jesus Navas (15) and Aleksandar Kolarov (13), who was allowed free reign of the left leading to him setting up Aguero’s opener.