( CNN ) -- The world watched Manchester , and Manchester watched the world turn red and blue . According to some analysts more than 600 million people across the globe tuned into see the blue of Manchester City beat the red of Manchester United 1-0 , arguably the biggest audience for the biggest match in English Premier League history . Vincent Kompany 's headed goal deep in first-half injury time was enough to take City top of the league from their rivals on goal difference . Psychologically , with two games left , it could prove decisive and hand City the advantage as they hunt a historic first Premier League title . The match itself was enthralling without being exciting , tense without many chances on goal . But by the end , as Manchester City fans sang their club 's famous adopted song `` Blue Moon , '' there was a sense that history was being witnessed . United coach Alex Ferguson lost his cool and remonstrated with his opposite number Roberto Mancini . But the game was lost for United . Perhaps as one empire rises , another falls . TV networks from China to Qatar sent their chief correspondents to relay something of the febrile atmosphere to their expectant domestic audiences , audiences that have taken English football as their own over the past two decades . Even in America , traditionally one of the few bastions of football refuseniks , TV chiefs decided to upgrade the match to ESPN 's main channel . This , CNN 's Eliott C. McLaughlin told us , was a very big deal indeed . Yet it was n't always like this . Once , not so long ago , few outside of those standing on the terraces attending this derby match in the north west of England would have been able to watch the spectacle . True the Manchester derby has always been a passionate , sometimes brutal affair over the years . The fortunes of both the red half of United and the blue of City have ebbed and flowed as the decades pass . City have n't won the league for 44 years . Instead they watched United become the greatest team of the Premier League era , not to mention arguably the most recognizable and profitable brand in the world . But in 1974 the boot was on the other foot when Denis Law -- a United legend who had signed for City -- sheepishly backheeled the goal that relegated United to the second division . Such a scenario in 2012 would be unthinkable . Today the Manchester derby has reached the kind of global prominence that Barcelona versus Real Madrid -- even if Spain 's biggest match is n't a derby in the truest sense of the word -- would normally enjoy . Its rise is much more than just the story of two successful football teams . The rise of the Manchester derby is also the story of the rise of globalization . United and City are separated by just five miles yet the local has become the global . On the pitch , 10 different nationalities featured . The stadium 's naming rights have been sold to a Middle Eastern airline . United is owned by the Glazer family , the American venture capitalists who knew virtually nothing about football outside of their love of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , who bought the English club in an unpopular leveraged buy out . Manchester City has been transformed by the mega money from the Arab world , owned as it is by Sheikh Mansour from the ruling family of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates . It was Sheikh Mansour 's money that turned a sleepy , underperforming club into champions elect . As the movement of capital and talent has been made easier , football -- and especially the Premier League -- has reaped the financial benefits . But no two entities have benefited more than Manchester 's two football clubs . `` I think we deserved to win this game , '' Mancini told British TV after the match . `` I think next Saturday we 'll have another difficult day . '' And he 's right , of course . Manchester City easily fended off United 's late charge . United did n't even manage a shot on target during the entire 90 minutes . Now the two teams are equal on points with just two matches left . As Mancini said , next Saturday will be the same as Monday ; a difficult day , almost too close to call . But there 's one thing that you can predict . On Saturday the world will be watching once again .
Manchester City beat Manchester United 1-0 in derby match key to title race . City captain Vincent Kompany heads the game 's only goal at the end of first half . City go top in the English Premier League on goal difference with two games to play . Worldwide audience of 600 million watched the game between fierce local rivals .