Nothing cures a rough week-long stretch like defeating your crosstown rivals.

After losing a lead to CSKA Moscow in UEFA Champions League action to end the match in a draw, taking an upset loss to West Ham United last weekend and getting eliminated in the Capital One Cup after being stunned by Newcastle United, Man City bounced back this weekend taking down Manchester United Sunday 1-0 in the Manchester derby.

Manchester United defender Chris Smalling foolishly earned two quick yellow cards -- first for charging into Man City keeper Joe Hart in the 31st minute and then recklessly sliding into James Milner in the 39th minute to earn the second yellow card -- to put the Red Devils down a man in the first half.

"In a derby you have to be careful. The second yellow card is a stupid yellow card," said Manchester United coach Louis van Gaal to BBC Sport. "As a player you have to control your aggression."

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Sergio Agüero made Manchester United pay dearly after Gaël Clichy found the Argentine striker open in the 63rd minute, enough to secure the victory for Manchester City. The goal is Agüero's 10th of the season, the most in the EPL, one ahead of Chelsea's Diego Costa.

"The red card had an influence on the game but, despite being ten men against 11, we played better in the second half than the first because of willpower of this team," said van Gaal. "We are very close. You saw it against Chelsea and now against Manchester City. They are the two best clubs in this league and the difference is zero I think. When you see what we did with ten men you can be proud as a coach."

In the other EPL game of the day, Tottenham Hotspur had to come back from an early one-goal deficit after Andreas Weimann deflected Charles N'Zogbia's pass past Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to put Aston Villa ahead 1-0 in the 16th minute.

But Aston Villa forward Christian Benteke's red card for shoving Ryan Mason in the face helped put his team a man down, allowing for Tottenham to get back into the game.

Nacer Chadli headed Erik Lamela's corner kick in the 84th minute to tie the game 1-1 while Harry Kane, who came in as a substitution in the 58th minute for Emmanuel Adebayor, bailed Tottenham out of their jam, deflecting a free kick in the 90th minute to give the Hotspur the 2-1 victory over Aston Villa -- their sixth straight loss of the season.

"The red card cost us the game," said Aston Villa coach Paul Lambert. "[Christian Benteke] was playing an excellent game. We had so many positives and one disappointment, losing the game on that red card."

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