Manchester City absolutely destroyed rivals Manchester United in the derby at the Etihad. Erling Haaland and Phil Foden both struck hat-tricks as City won 6-3 to remain unbeaten in the Premier League. They are now one point behind Arsenal in the Premier League table.
It was an afternoon worth forgetting for Erik ten Hag as Manchester City humiliated their rivals in the Manchester derby. It was ten Hag’s first Manchester derby. The Dutchman was named manager of the month in the Premier League just before the match.
However, the celebrations were short-lived as United had a traumatic afternoon in the highest-ever scoring match between the two teams. Manchester City are now only a point behind Arsenal in the Premier League table.
City were dominant from the start as they raced into a commanding four-goal lead in the first half. Both Erling Haaland and Phil Foden struck hat-tricks before Anthony Martial scored a pair of consolation goals in the final ten minutes of the match.
Manchester City brushed aside Manchester United
Manchester City opened the scoring in the 8th minute as they were allowed space in the penalty area. Bernardo Silva crossed the ball from the left, which was met by a completely unmarked Foden. He gently guided the ball into the net. This was Foden’s third goal in four matches.
City struck again at the 34th-minute mark as Haaland headed a corner from De Bruyne. Malacia attempted to clear the ball from the goal line, but the officials confirmed the goal.
In just four minutes, Manchester City scored another goal to put United on the back foot. Kevin De Bruyne made an amazing curled pass into the box from the right, which was met by Haaland again. He stretched forward to put the ball into the back of the net with his left foot.
The home side scored their fourth goal right before the half-time whistle. De Bruyne made another sensational pass to Haaland on the left, who passed the ball across the face of the goal to Foden. Foden ran in ahead of Martinez to score City’s fourth goal.
The second half started with United trying to push forward. In the 56th minute, they did get the reward for it as Antony was provided enough space and time by Sergio Gomez. The Brazilian curled the ball into the left corner for his second goal in the Premier League.
Just as things were getting to slow down, Manchester City grabbed another goal in the 64th minute. Grealish passed one back to De Bruyne, who played a through ball into the box. Haaland was present unmarked in the middle to fire the ball home.
With another hat-trick, Haaland became the only player in the Premier League to score three consecutive hat-tricks in home games. He now has 17 goals in only ten appearances.
Foden also got his hat-trick at the 73rd-minute mark. Haaland received the ball with his back to goal. He managed to play a through pass to Foden, who managed to skip past the United defenders and fired the ball home.
United got some consolation goals in the final minutes of the match. At the 84th minute mark, Fred fired a shot from the left side, which Ederson was able to save. However, the deflection went to the center of the box, where Martial rushed in to poke the ball into the net.
Martial was then fouled by Manuel Akanji in the City penalty area at the 90th-minute mark. The referee pointed to the spot, and Martial fired the ball into the top right corner, cutting the deficit to three goals. It was too late for United, though, as the fans had already started leaving the stadium.
Reactions from the players
“Yeah, not bad. We scored six goals, what can you say? It’s nice. We always want to go forward, we always want to attack. This is what I love about the team. In the end, it’s amazing. There’s nothing more to say,” Haaland told Sky Sports after the game.
Manchester City’s Phil Foden said: “It’s a dream come true, being a City fan. We were right at it from kick-off, and we took our chances. (Who gets the match ball?) I think we get one each, no?”
“We lacked a bit of courage to play out from the back. There are a lot of things we need to change and do better. It was unacceptable,” said Manchester United’s Christian Eriksen after the match.
The managers speak after the game
United’s manager Erik ten Hag was critical of his side’s performance. He said: “It’s difficult (to explain the performance) straight after the game. I need to talk to my players. They know they can do better. If you don’t fight – and we didn’t – you’ll have a problem against a team like Manchester City.”
“I don’t think you can compare this (to the Brentford game). Against Brentford, we didn’t run; today, we didn’t follow the principles, we were indisciplined. Once again, it was a lack of belief.”
City boss Pep Guardiola praised his side’s performance but also said that they need to improve in certain aspects of the game. “Perfection doesn’t exist, it’s impossible, but we must try to look for it. We did good, we can do better; many, many players had sloppy passes. This is not good,” said Guardiola.
“We have to be more consistent. In some areas, we were still not good. Some players were not good today, so they have to improve.”
Manchester City next have their Champions League group match against Copenhagen on Thursday. Manchester United, on the other hand, will play Omonia in their Europa League fixture on the same day.
