MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – The reality of life after Alex Ferguson is really kicking in at Manchester United, which is languishing in mid-table after a painful 4-1 loss to its local rival.

To chants of “Easy! Easy!” Manchester City ripped United apart at Etihad Stadium to leave the champions staring at a five-point gap to early pacesetters Arsenal and Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday.

“It’s horrible to lose the derby — it’s always horrible. It’s worse when you lose in this way,” said United captain Nemanja Vidic, whose team was four goals down after 50 minutes.

Arsenal leads on goal difference from Spurs after Germany playmaker Mesut Ozil, making his home debut, set up all his team’s goals in a 3-1 win over Stoke, while Tottenham needed a strike in the third minute of stoppage time by Brazil midfielder Paulinho to snatch a 1-0 win at Cardiff.

Both north London clubs have won four of their opening five matches and have overhauled Liverpool, which lost 1-0 to Southampton on Saturday.

“The only thing of our position at the moment is that we are in a position where we can focus on improvement in a stable environment, so that’s a good basis,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

Swansea beat Crystal Palace 2-0 in the other match, with Spanish forward Michu scoring for the third straight match this week.

It is United’s worst start to a Premier League campaign since the 2004-05 season. And after a testing first five league matches where the team has picked up just one point from matches against Liverpool, Chelsea and City, it doesn’t get any easier for Moyes.

On Wednesday, Liverpool will visit Old Trafford for a League Cup third-round match with Luis Suarez back from a 10-match ban and likely to play a full-strength team with no European soccer to worry about this season.

“I’ve made them aware of what I think,” Moyes said, when asked if he had given the team the “hairdryer treatment” Ferguson was famous for at halftime intervals.

United was all over the place against City, its defense overpowered by the strength of Alvaro Negredo and the darting runs of Sergio Aguero, who opened the scoring in the 16th minute with an acrobatic volley and scored two minutes after the break to make it 3-0.

Yaya Toure had doubled City’s lead in first-half injury time and Samir Nasri lifted an already-euphoric atmosphere inside the Etihad up a notch by volleying home in the 50th minute.

Wayne Rooney’s superb, curling free kick in the 87th minute was a consolation for United, which hasn’t scored in open play in the league since the opening-day 4-1 victory at Swansea.

Sunderland fires Di Canio

AP
LONDON

Paolo Di Canio’s turbulent and divisive Sunderland reign was abruptly ended after less than six months on Sunday as he became the first manager to be fired this Premier League season.

Sunderland announced it had “parted company” with the Italian a day after a 3-0 loss to West Bromwich Albion left the northeast club bottom of the standings and without a win from five games this season.

The firing comes amid reports of player unrest after Di Canio said his “players need to release the rubbish from their brains,” and brings an end to an uneasy chapter in the club’s 134-year-old history.

“The club would like to place on record its thanks to Paolo and his staff and wishes them well for the future,” Sunderland said in a short statement, 175 days after hiring Di Canio.

Di Canio’s appointment in March provoked a widespread backlash, with anger within and outside the club after American owner Ellis Short brought in a manager who had made well-publicized statements in the past expressing fascist leanings.