Manchester City 3-0 Manchester United: Haaland and Foden star in derby demolition | OneFootball

Manchester City painted their town blue with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium.

Erling Haaland was the man of the hour, scoring a brace in the second half after Phil Foden gave his boyhood side the lead early on. The pair now have 15 Manchester derby goals between them.

United, for their part, seldom looked like getting going.

As it happened

The hosts could’ve taken the lead immediately. In the very first minute, Haaland was played into the area before flashing a shot right across the face of goal. Altay Bayindir, in the starting lineup over new goalkeeper Senne Lammens, was a relieved man.

He would be less fortuitous in the 18th minute, when Foden nodded City into the lead. It came from some excellent work from Jérémy Doku, who jinked and slalomed his way into the area before sending a cross into the centre of the box. Foden – against the side against whom he’d already scored six times – was in the right place at the right time to head home past a flailing Bayindir.

Pep Guardiola’s side maintained relative control throughout much of the rest of the first half, and Tijjani Reijnders really should’ve scored in the 24th minute, when he fired a shot straight into the arms of the Turkish goalkeeper. As for his opposite number, debutant Gianluigi Donnarumma remained largely untroubled until the break

United had occasionally threatened on the break in the first half, but in the second, any semblance of attacking vigour dissipated entirely until it was too late.

It was Haaland who gave City their two-goal buffer, finishing off a delightfully slick move which started with Nico O’Reilly nutmegging Manuel Ugarte before Foden slipped past Noussair Mazraoui to find Doku approaching the box. There, he outmuscled Lenny Yoro, slipped the Norwegian striker in behind, and he did the rest with a dink over Bayindir.

Now they had real momentum. Haaland should’ve made it two for himself soon after, with United’s limp attempt at keeping the ball in their own half resulting in a golden chance from which he miraculously hit the post despite already having gone round the goalkeeper.

Then came the chance for the Red Devils. A wicked Patrick Dorgu cross found Bryan Mbeumo unmarked in the box. He swung a leg, hit the sweetest of volleys, and couldn’t believe his eyes when the mammoth frame of Donnarumma sprung to make the save.

City survived and then went one better. More reckless United passing on the halfway line saw Harry Maguire gift Bernardo Silva the ball. Haaland was still in his own half, but no one could catch up with him once the Portuguese played him in on goal. One on one, there was only one result: the ball nestling in the very depths of the bottom corner.

Reijnders soon fluffed another golden chance, curling a shot wide from close range after another dangerous break, before his side finally took their foot off the gas. A flurry of United chances came right at the end, most notably when Casemiro poked an effort wide with the goal gaping. But they’d been beaten and beaten comfortably.

The rigid tactical principles of Ruben Amorim did his side few favours: they kept most of the ball and did precious little with it. City didn’t have to play all that well to win by a margin, with United’s troubled start to the season set to continue. Their hosts, on the other hand, might just have got started.

The lineups