Haaland and Foden sparkle as City demolish United in Manchester derby
Erling Haaland struck his third hat-trick in eight Premier League games as Manchester City decimated Manchester United 6-3 at the Etihad Stadium.
Phil Foden’s three goals and a dominant display from Kevin de Bruyne were the other highlights of a whirlwind encounter. A first-half flurry killed off a nervy United as Pep Guardiola taught Erik ten Hag a stern lesson on his Manchester derby debut.
Foden opened the scoring with the match just eight minutes old, sweeping home a Bernardo Silva pull-back as City forced the issue down the flanks, terrorising Diogo Dalot and Tyrell Malacia, both booked in the early exchanges.
Haaland powered home a de Bruyne corner with an unchallenged header on 34 minutes, doubling his tally just three minutes later.
Foden was back on the goal-scoring act on 43 minutes as Haaland turned provider, fed by another de Bruyne drive through the gears as the number nine drifted left to kill the game off.
Ten Hag reacted with a half-time switch, replacing Malacia with Luke Shaw, and the England left-back offered more thrust down that side as United looked to ease their embarrassment.
Antony curled a beauty beyond his compatriot Ederson after 56 minutes, a goal that no-one saw coming after further United uncertainty following the restart.
United had hope after that moment of magic, but they were put well and truly back in their place by Haaland, who guided a low Sergio Gomez cross beyond David de Gea on 64 minutes to seal his hat-trick, netting his 14th goal in just eight games in the top flight.
Cristiano Ronaldo could only watch on as Foden compounded United’s misery, helping himself to his third of the game as Haaland turned provider once more, finishing with aplomb inside De Gea’s near post as Shaw played his England colleague onside.
Martial pulled one back in the 84th minute before the Frenchman got his second from the spot in stoppage time after he was felled by Joao Cancelo, netting into the top right corner to make it 6-3.
This result is a humbling one for ten Hag and United after their recent optimism: they slide into sixth, while City move to within one point of table-topping Arsenal.
