A year later than expected, Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola appear set for a season-long fight for the Premier League title.

Having overseen successful close-season spending sprees after lacklustre first seasons in charge at Old Trafford and Eastlands, Mourinho and Guardiola have put United and City in pole position among the early pace-setters.

After five matches, Mourinho and Guardiola have led their teams to identical records, four wins, one draw, 16 goals scored, two conceded, and only alphabetical order is keeping leaders City above second-placed United.

There is little love lost between old rivals Mourinho and Guardiola and their close proximity in Manchester should make the title race an explosive affair.

Here we look at the key areas that transformed United and City:

LUKAKU POWER PLAY

Aware his most successful teams have always been built around a battering ram capable of combining power and poise at the focal point of his attack, Mourinho is reaping the rewards of splashing out £75 million ($101 million, 84 million euros) on Everton striker Romelu Lukaku.

At Chelsea, it was Didier Drogba and then Diego Costa who fuelled Mourinho’s title-winning teams, while at Inter Milan he used Diego Milito to bully defenders into submission.

Lukaku, prolific but sometimes lacking desire at Everton, is following in those footsteps, scoring seven goals in seven appearances for United to transform an attack that was often held in check too easily last term.

“If you play for a big club, then you have to act like a big player and perform, week in, week out, Lukaku said of his United excellence.

CITY MAKE CASE FOR DEFENCE

When Guardiola splurged £130 million on three full-backs over the summer, some critics suggested the Spaniard would have been better off using the money to strengthen other areas.

But Guardiola was convinced the additions of Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy and Danilo, from Tottenham, Monaco and Real Madrid respectively, were essential for his purist principles to be successful in England.

Guardiola loves to retain possession as his teams build from the back, while putting stress on opponents by using over-lapping full-backs to outnumber them in the final third.

Walker, Mendy and Danilo have allowed City to do exactly that, with Liverpool, Feyenoord and Watford crushed by a combined score of 15-0 in their last three games.

“They are having a big impact. We create spaces in behind and you need players in those positions,” Guardiola said.

“Without these signings it would have been more complicated.”

MATIC BRINGS STABILITY

Asked how he felt about Chelsea sanctioning Nemanja Matic’s £40 million move to United, Blues boss Antonio Conte gave a terse reply – “You should ask the club” – that left no doubt about his frustration at losing the Serbia midfielder.

Conte’s loss has been Mourinho’s gain as Matic’s astute reading of the game and effective passing have provided the foundation for United’s more creative talents to thrive.

Matic’s presence in the midfield holding role had freed up Paul Pogba to take on the more attacking duties that suit his off-the-cuff style.

While Pogba will be sidelined with a hamstring injury for several weeks, Mourinho has no doubts United remain in good hands with Matic directing traffic.

AGUERO RISES TO JESUS CHALLENGE

Just nine months ago, Sergio Aguero appeared in danger of being the odd man out in Guardiola’s forward line following the arrival of Brazilian sensation Gabriel Jesus, but the Argentine has made himself indispensable with a blistering start to the season.

Despite Aguero’s impressive track record at City, it was the more mobile Jesus who fitted the bill as the prototypical Guardiola forward and the pair played together only three times last season as the youngster took centre stage until suffering a foot injury.

However, Guardiola has unleashed the pair to devastating effect this season, with Aguero scoring six goals in six appearances, while Jesus has netted five times in six games.

Guardiola was especially delighted Aguero showed his creative side by laying on a goal for Jesus at Watford last weekend.

“He’s a guy I encourage to play, not just to score goals,” Guardiola said.

Former England captain Wayne Rooney was Monday banned from driving for two years and ordered to perform 100 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to drink driving.

The Everton forward was stopped by police when driving a woman’s black Volkswagen Beetle at 2:00 am (0100 GMT) on September 1, while his pregnant wife and their three sons were on holiday.

Stockport Magistrates’ Court in the northwest of England heard Rooney was almost three times over the legal drink-drive limit. A breathalyser test showed his alcohol level was 104 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath.

The drink-drive limit in England and Wales is 35 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath.

Rooney apologised for his “unforgivable lack of judgement” after his guilty plea.

“Following today’s court hearing I want publicly to apologise for my unforgivable lack of judgement in driving while over the legal limit. It was completely wrong,” he said in a statement.

“I have already said sorry to my family, my manager and chairman and everyone at Everton FC. Now I want to apologise to all the fans and everyone else who has followed and supported me throughout my career.

“Of course I accept the sentence of the court and hope that I can make some amends through my community service.”

Rooney’s legal team asked the judge to consider not imposing a community order because of his ongoing charitable work.

However, the judge said he was “not convinced” that imposing a large fine “would have the same effect”.

Earlier, Rooney, 31, made no comment as he was confronted by a media scrum outside the court.

Wearing a blue suit with his hands in his pockets, he walked into the court building accompanied by a small entourage.

He has been married to his high-school sweetheart Coleen since 2008 and they are expecting their fourth child.

Everton manager Ronald Koeman said earlier this month the matter would be dealt with “internally”.

United return

Rooney was given a warm welcome at Old Trafford on his return to former club Manchester United on Sunday but it ended in disappointment with a 4-0 defeat for Everton.

Rooney, England and Manchester United’s record goalscorer, made a successful start to his second Everton spell following his return to the club from United in the summer, scoring on his first two Premier League appearances.

His form moved England manager Gareth Southgate to offer him an international recall, but he decided to call time on his England career.

Everton are currently 18th in the Premier League after three successive defeats.

Rooney first burst onto the scene aged just 16 at Everton and went on to score 17 goals in 77 appearances for the “Toffees” before moving to Manchester United, where he won multiple trophies, including the Champions League.

Pep Guardiola wants Manchester City to pay tribute to Sergio Aguero when the Argentine “legend” becomes their record goalscorer.

Aguero grabbed a hat-trick in City’s 6-0 rout of Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday and stands just two goals behind Eric Brook’s all-time mark of 177 in the 1920s and 1930s.

City boss Guardiola believes it is now simply a question of when, not if, Aguero claims the record as his own and he hopes his club mark the occasion in style.

“Sergio now needs three goals to beat the record. It will be soon,” he said.

“Hopefully we can make a good celebration because he’s a legend, a part of the history of the club. That’s good for him.

“He’s a guy that I encourage to play, not just to score a goal.”

Guardiola also paid tribute to Aguero’s unselfishness after disobeying Guardiola’s orders and allowing Raheem Sterling to take the 89th minute penalty which completed the rout of Watford.

“Sergio showed again what a good guy he is. I like penalties to be taken by the penalty taker, but I understand that Raheem created the penalty and it was with my blessing that Sergio gave it to him when it is already 0-5,” Guardiola said.

Gabriel Jesus and Nicolas Otamendi were City’s other goalscorers as they leapt over Manchester neighbours United to the top of the Premier League table.

Unlike last season when his side’s thrilling start to the campaign saw them win 10 straight games in all competitions only to end the season without a trophy, Guardiola believes his side are better equipped to maintain their form in this campaign.

FUNDAMENTALS

“Last season we won with the enthusiasm for the new manager and the new players. Some games we won because we were new,” he said.

“I think we are more stable now. The players know me better, I know them better. The fundamentals are the same as last season but we have good players and a good spirit.

“It’s not easy to score 15 goals in eight days. Sometimes you have weeks like that and I am curious how we are going to react to it.

“It doesn’t matter who plays. Hopefully we can keep the same team spirit.”

Watford manager Marco Silva knows his team’s season will not be defined by this result.

But he is adamant his players must learn to handle teams who possess City’s power up front.

“It was not a good afternoon for us, but it is a good match for our team to learn from,” he said.

“City came here to play a strong match. They only changed one player from Wednesday.

“To compete at this level we need to keep our focus and our organisation every time and through the match.We need to look forward. We lost only three points and I repeat it is a good game for us to analyse.

“It is difficult to play against City, not only Aguero. What they did here this afternoon, they did eight days before against Liverpool and then in the Champions League.”

Silva complained that two of City’s first three goals were offside and then that his team were denied a clear penalty.

“When the referees make mistakes, it makes it more difficult. It is clear that the referee made mistakes,” he said.

“I will show my players their mistakes and how to learn from them. I hope the referee does the same thing.”