In an action-packed weekend in the Premier League, the reigning champions rounded off the matchday with a thumping victory over their bitter neighbors. Erling Haaland and Phil Foden were on the scoresheet as Manchester City won 3-0 against Manchester United.
Manchester City run riot at Old Trafford
In 2009, when Sir Alex Ferguson was the manager of Manchester United, Someone asked him whether United would ever go into a derby as underdogs. “Not in my lifetime,” was the infamous reply of Sir Alex. Ironically, his words came back to haunt him and his team. The last five meetings between the clubs, including this derby, show the dominance City has asserted over their rivals in the past years. An aggregated total of the scores show an 18-7 astounding lead for City.
Last night’s derby concreted the superiority of this City side as they cruised past Manchester United. The away side had the upper hand in the whole game. They had three times more attempts than the home side had and made the face of Andre Onana’s goal ten times. On the other side, Ederson had an easy day at the office. Ten Hag and his team would inevitably receive a lot of criticism for their poor performance on Sunday, and the manager would hope that his team could bounce back from the defeat and focus on their next game, which is against Newcastle United in the EFL Cup.
Erling Haaland continues his top-form
11 goals in 10 games for Manchester City’s number nine in this Premier League campaign and has two assists to his name also. Erling Haaland continues to be a nightmare for every defender in the league as he grows more ruthless in front of goal.
Haaland had two goals in the derby and an assist. The first goal was a penalty earned by Rodri, who was fouled inside the box by Rasmus Højlund. Erling Haaland made no mistakes from the spot as he sent Onana the wrong way. He added to his tally by heading in a delicious cross from Bernardo Silva. His contributions to the game went on as he assisted Phil Foden for the third goal even though he had the opportunity to attempt a hattrick. Haaland now has 47 goals in 45 games for the treble winners in the domestic league.
Bernardo Silva wins the Man of the Match
The Portuguese international, over the years, has become one of the quintessential players for the Pep Guardiola style of play. He was on his top game on Sunday as he completed 59 passes and three key passes, along with an assist. Silva orchestrated the City midfield. His fluidity in the center and going forward was too much for the United backline to handle. In the absence of Kevin de Bruyne, Silva and Phil Foden have a mammoth role in the team to move the ball up the pitch and create goalscoring chances for their Norwegian center forward.
What’s next for Ten Hag and United
It would be a matter of concern for Ten Hag how his team played on Sunday. In a post-match interview, Ten Hag said that the derby defeat to Manchester City was one of his worst days as a United manager. It is for the first time since 1986 that United have lost five of their opening ten league games. They sit 8th in the league table, nine points behind third-place City and eleven points behind league leaders Tottenham. From a Manchester United perspective, they are facing an injury crisis in the team. It isn’t the preferred backline they wish to have in front of Onana. The pair of Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane is missing for Ten Hag, along with Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
To add to their misery, many players are out of form. Rashford hasn’t been able to find his usual level of performance. Casemiro is out injured and is underperforming. Ten Hag would hope that in the coming games, Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen would create more chances for their $82 million Danish forward Rasmus Højlund.
