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Phil Foden's first hat-trick and Erling Haaland's third in three Premier League home games set up a big win for Manchester City over rivals Manchester United. An Antony stunner and two late Anthony Martial goals were just consolation.
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| Image: Erling Haaland celebrates with Bernardo Silva and Joao Cancelo after scoring Man City's third goal |
Erling Haaland and Phil Foden scored hat-tricks as Manchester City dished out a derby day thrashing to Manchester United, halting any talk of rejuvenation from their rivals with a thumping 6-3 win.
Homegrown City star Foden (8, 44, 72 minutes) will have revelled in the result as much as anyone inside the Etihad and this will go down as one of the career-high days for the 22-year-old. He had not scored against United before but got his side up and running then flew to 51 goals for his club in style as City embarrassed their neighbours.
It was the first hat-trick of Foden's career - but they're becoming a habit for his incredible team-mate Haaland (34, 37, 64 minutes). The Norwegian had hit three in each of his past two Premier League appearances at the Etihad and made it a treble of trebles with another wonderful masterclass of forward play on Sunday.
His first two came courtesy of more brilliant combination play between the striker and Kevin De Bruyne, with the Premier League's top scorer and top assist-maker producing some breath-taking moves to help make it 4-0 at the break.
His conversion from sub Sergio Gomez's cross in the second half has taken him to 14 Premier League goals in just eight appearances. They're astronomical numbers from the summer signing. De Bruyne's eight assists puts him well on course for a record in that category too.
While City celebrate, United will be reflecting on another wretched first half. With Ilkay Gundogan also hitting a post from a free-kick, it could have been worse for the visitors at the break - but not much. "I can't believe how bad Man Utd have been," said Roy Keane on Sky Sports at the interval. By that point, large numbers of United supporters in the away end had already left the stadium.
City were dominant from the first whistle and had the visitors scrambling in their own goal mouth inside three minutes. Scott McTominay and David de Gea somehow kept Bernardo Silva and De Bruyne at bay on that occasion but there was no stopping Foden a few minutes later, when he capitalised on some loose marking from Christian Eriksen.
City's fourth win on the spin in this fixture was never in doubt. It was also a reality check for any United supporters getting carried away by their four-game winning run since they were last 4-0 down after 45 minutes at Brentford.
United supporters flooded out of the Etihad before the half-time whistle had sounded as Sir Alex Ferguson looked on from the stands unimpressed.
The result moves unbeaten City back to within a point of Premier League leaders Arsenal and looking very much like major players in the race for that crown once again. United remain sixth - and a long way off.
Team news
Man City were without the injured John Stones and Rodri, while Ruben Dias dropped to bench. Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan and Nathan Ake came in.
Man Utd named the same XI which beat Arsenal almost a month ago, with fit-again Marcus Rashford and Antony in attack and Cristiano Ronaldo and Casemiro on the bench.
Player ratings
Man City: Ederson (6); Walker (6), Ake (6), Akanji (6), Cancelo (6); Gundogan (8), De Bruyne (9), Bernardo (9); Foden (10), Haaland (10), Grealish (9).
Subs: Gomez (7), Laporte (6), Alvarez (6), Palmer (6), Mahrez (6)
Man Utd: De Gea (3); Dalot (3), Martinez (3), Varane (3), Malacia (3); McTominay (4), Eriksen (3); Antony (6), Fernandes (4), Sancho (4); Rashford (3)
Subs: Lindelof (5), Shaw (6), Casemiro (5), Fred (5), Martial (7)
Players of the match: Erling Haaland and Phil Foden
Antony - anonymous in the first half - suddenly popped up with a super goal to spark a glimmer of hope but his second goal in two Premier League games faded into insignificance as Haaland and then Foden completed their hat-tricks.
David Moyes. Louis van Gaal. Jose Mourinho. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Ralf Rangnick. And now Erik ten Hag. Every Man Utd manager since Sir Alex Ferguson has lost their first Manchester derby
Cristiano Ronaldo was spared involvement in the defeat by United boss Erik ten Hag but Anthony Martial - sent on for the underwhelming Marcus Rashford - made his own case for more game time in the coming weeks with a late double, heading in Fred's parried shot before converting an excellent penalty after Cancelo's clumsy trip.
But they were only brief moments of relief for the travelling supporters still inside the Etihad by that point, who had seen their side brought crashing back down to earth after recent form raised hopes of a quick turnaround under Erik Ten Hag.
THE MANAGERS
Ten Hag: An unacceptable defeat | We had a lack of belief
Erik ten Hag says his players had a lack of belief and put in an unacceptable performance in Manchester United's 6-3 loss to Manchester City
Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag: "We had a lack of belief. I'm surprised why we didn't bring it on the pitch.
"It was four weeks ago, but I had seen a different team with a different spirit and a different vibe. Today, we weren't convincing. From the first minute, we were not on the front foot and we were not brave in possession.
"It's always difficult to find out why that is, especially straight after the game. I will have to talk to my players and find out.
"They know they can do better. You saw the performances against Arsenal and Liverpool but if you don't fight - which we didn't - then you have a problem against a team like Manchester City.
"Once again, it was a lack of belief."
Guardiola: There are many things we can do better
Pep Guardiola reflects on his side's 6-3 win over Manchester United and was surprisingly critical after the victory
Man City boss Pep Guardiola: "It was really good. We scored four goals in the first half and we could have scored more really. They played better in the second half and the last minutes was flat, but it was a good game and everyone in the stadium was happy.
"In the first half we were aggressive and had the space, and the quality of players we had up front made the difference.
"Some players were not good today and have to improve. Perfection doesn't exist, it's impossible. But we have to try to look for it. We have done well today, but we can do better.
"Many, many players made sloppy passes and we lost it and this is not good. We have to be more consistent in our passes.
"In the final third you can have more creativity, you can take more risks, but in some areas, we were not good."
Standout stats from City's historic win
This was the highest-ever scoring Manchester derby in any competition
This was the first time Manchester City scored six goals in a home game against Manchester United in all competitions - the previous two instances of City scoring six versus United came away from home (6-1 in January 1926 and 6-1 in October 2011).
Since the start of 2020-21, Man Utd have conceded 4+ first-half goals in four Premier League games (v Spurs in Oct 2020, Liverpool in Oct 2021, Brentford in Aug 2022, Man City today); this is twice as often as any other side in this time.
In Erling Haaland and Phil Foden, Manchester City were only the third side to have two hat-trick scorers in a single Premier League game, after Arsenal v Southampton in May 2003 (Jermaine Pennant, Robert Pires) and Leicester v Southampton in October 2019 (Ayoze Pérez, Jamie Vardy).
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