Noisy neighbours take unofficial title and silence Old TraffordManchester United 1 (Fletcher 81) Manchester City 6 (Balotelli 22, 60, Aguero 69, Dzeko 90, 90+3, Silva 90+1)

Mario Balotelli inspired the worst loss of Sir Alex Ferguson's career as Manchester City thrashed 10-man Manchester United 6-1 to go five points clear at the top of the Premier League and become the NEW Unofficial Premier League Champions.

Balotelli - who was forced to flee his home on Saturday following a bizarre late night blaze triggered by fireworks - lit the fuse on City's title charge in their biggest win at Old Trafford for 85 years.

The 21-year-old Italian fired City ahead in the 22nd minute and added a second on the hour mark before Argentine striker Sergio Aguero netted a third in the 69th minute.

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A brace of late goals from Edin Dzeko and a David Silva finish completed City's scoring on a memorable afternoon as United suffered their worst home defeat in Premier League history.

United - who had Jonny Evans sent off two minutes into the second half - scored a memorable late goal through Darren Fletcher but it was scant consolation after a nightmare afternoon for Ferguson's men.

The defeat was United's first league loss at Old Trafford since April 2010 and left City in pole position at the top of the table.

Balotelli celebrated his opening strike by removing his shirt to expose a T-shirt with the slogan - "Why Always Me? - which delighted his team-mates but irked referee Mark Clattenburg, who promptly booked the forward.

Stunned United boss Ferguson said the defeat was the worst of his 54-year career as a player and manager.

"It was our worst ever day," said Ferguson. "It's the worst result in my history, ever. Even as a player I don't think I ever lost 6-1.

"The sending off was a killer for us. We kept attacking when we went 4-1 down and we should have just said: 'We've had our day."

"We just kept attacking. They were attacking three versus two. It was crazy football," Ferguson told Sky Sports.

A good afternoon for City got even better in the late games as Chelsea crashed to a 1-0 defeat against Queens Park Rangers in a pulsating west London derby which saw Andre Villas-Boas's side finish with nine men.

Next up for the new champions is a non-title match when they head to Molineux and face Wolves in the Carling Cup. Their first title defence will be three days later when they host ... Wolves!!!!