Jesse Lingard felt the speed and pace of Manchester United's younger players really exploited Manchester City on Sunday.

The Red Devils beat their crosstown rivals 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium thanks to a composed 16th-minute finish from teenage striker Marcus Rashford who continuously made life difficult for ageing City centre-half Martin Demichelis.

Lingard played down suggestions that United targeted Demichelis throughout the clash but did admit that the quickness of the Red Devils' younger bridge certainly contributed to the victory.

"Not necessarily, but obviously we knew that was one of their weaknesses, with Marcus's pace running in behind and he got his reward for it as well," he told ManUtd.com.

Lingard operated as a number 10 in behind Rashford, and alongside Morgan Schneiderlin, and felt it was the right combination to overcome the City defence.

"Yeah it was good," he added. "I came on earlier in the season against them [at Old Trafford] and they are a difficult side to play against because they keep the ball very well.

"But we exploited their weaknesses and we came away with the goal."