The Manchester derby went to City. Next, it hopes, is the Premier League crown.

Manchester City finished a sweep of its local rivals Monday when Vincent Kompany’s powerful header lifted it past Manchester United 1-0 to take the Premier League lead with two games remaining.

In what had been billed as the biggest Manchester derby ever, Kompany connected off David Silva’s corner kick for the only goal in first-half stoppage time at the Etihad Stadium. City then held on for a potentially title-deciding victory; it leads United on goal difference and once again has matters in its own hands, having erased an eight-point deficit in three weeks.

“Absolutely buzzing. … We’ve been waiting for this moment,’’ Kompany said. “It’s far from over, and we know that, but just to give our fans two wins over Manchester United this season — we have to finish it off.’’

City still has a difficult job remaining as it next visits fifth-place Newcastle United, then hosts relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers in the remaining games. United finishes against Swansea at home and Sunderland away.

“It’s great to win tonight, but Newcastle is now our focus,’’ City goalkeeper Joe Hart said.

City has an 8-goal differential over United.

“I think that we deserved to win this game, we scored, we played well and we had other chances to score in the second half,’’ city manager Roberto Mancini said.

As the crosstown rivals have been locked in a two-way fight for the title for most of the season, this game had been hyped even more than others in the 131-year history of matches. The entertainment level was not nearly as high as the stakes.

The game featured few clear scoring chances for either side, and the tension on the pitch spilled over to the sideline in the second half. United manager Alex Ferguson and City counterpart Mancini got into a heated exchange after a tough challenge by Nigel de Jong on Danny Welbeck.