Manchester City produced a blistering performance to dismantle Manchester United in the 188th Manchester derby....CONTINUE READING
Erling Haaland and Phil Foden both scored hat-tricks, with City running out 6-3 winners in front of a packed Etihad crowd.
The champions were 4-0 ahead at half-time after two goals apiece from Foden and Haaland, as United struggled to cope with the speed of of our football.
Antony got one back for the visitors early in the second half with a fine effort.
But Haaland and Foden completed their trebles to put City 6-1 up, before Anthony Martial’s close-range header and late penalty reduced the deficit.
It was yet another historic day at the Etihad that will live long in the memory of those in attendance.
What happened?
City flew out of the traps and were almost ahead inside four minutes with a trio of chances in the space of a few seconds.
Haaland’s header towards goal was cleared off the line but only as far as De Bruyne, whose powerful drive was saved by an off-balance David De Gea, before Bernardo’s effort on the rebound was blocked when the Portuguese midfielder looked certain to score.
But moments later and City were ahead. We moved the ball brilliantly from right to left, Bernardo found some space in a wide area and crossed for Foden, who produced a quite brilliant first-time finish past De Gea.
The pace and precision of City’s passing game was overwhelming United, who looked overawed and bereft of any answers.
And the City chances kept coming. Ilkay Gundogan hit the outside of the post with a fine free-kick after the lively Jack Grealish had been fouled by Lisandro Martinez, before Foden flashed one wide of the upright after great work from Bernardo down our left.
Only some backs-to-the-wall defending from United was keeping City at bay. Grealish danced past Diogo Dalot inside the area but his shot blocked superbly by Martinez, and seconds later De Bruyne’s dipping effort from distance was tipped over by De Gea.
From the resulting corner, our lead was doubled when Erling Haaland made it 15 goals in 11 games for City with a powerful downward header that had crossed the line before Tyrell Malacia’s attempted clearance.
The City No. 9 then bagged his second three minutes later, stretching out a leg at the backpost to turn De Bruyne’s excellent delivery into the net.
City were turning on the style and the noise inside the Etihad was deafening.
Our fourth was perhaps the finest of the lot. De Bruyne, whose early-season form has been nothing short of sensational, burst forward from midfield and released Haaland, whose delivery to the backpost was hammered home emphatically by Foden.
It was the Stockport-born midfielder’s 50th City goal and it effectively ended the game as a contest before the half-time whistle had been blown, with this the first time in Premier League history a team had been 4-0 up at the break in a Manchester derby.
United got one back in the early in the second half when Antony produced a fine curling effort that flew past Ederson and into the far corner, much to the frustration of Pep Guardiola, who never stops demanding more from his players.
United’s reprieve didn’t last long, however. Haaland, inevitably, completed his hat-trick, smashing the ball into the roof of the net from Sergio Gomez’s low cross to make it 5-1.
With the City fans doing the Poznan – and the scoreboard echoing the Maine Road Massacre of 1989 – it was party time inside the Etihad.
Foden followed suit soon after, when he fired home from Haaland’s throughball to make it 6-1, before United substitute Anthony Martial scored a diving header from close range and a late penalty added a veneer of respectability to the scoreline for United.
Teams
City
XI: Ederson, Walker (Gomez 41′), Akanji, Ake, Cancelo, Gundogan (Laporte 75′), De Bruyne (Alvarez 75′), Bernardo, Grealish (Palmer 75′), Foden (Mahrez 75′), Haaland
Subs: Ortega-Moreno, Carson, Dias, Lewis
United
XI: De Gea, Dalot, Martinez, Varane (Lindelof 40′), Malacia (Shaw 45′), McTominay, Fernandes, Eriksen, Antony, Sancho (Fred 70′), Rashford (Martial 59′)
Subs: Heaton, Ronaldo, Casemiro, Pellistri, Elanga
Man of the match: Erling Haaland
It’s now 17 goals in 11 Manchester City appearances for Erling Haaland, who continues to set English football alight.
This was his third straight hat-trick in Premier League games at the Etihad, a quite remarkable record.
But he doesn’t just provide goals. He works hard, makes runs that drag defenders out of position and brings a physicality to City’s attack that was perhaps previously lacking.
