MANCHESTER (AFP) – Erling Haaland and Phil Foden both scored hat-tricks as Manchester City beat sworn rivals Manchester United 6-3 on Sunday to close in on Premier League leaders Arsenal.
United needed Antony’s strike and a late Anthony Martial brace to save them from a record Manchester derby defeat as they sit nine points behind sixth place.
Haaland has now scored hat-tricks in each of his last three Premier League home games, taking his tally as a City player to 17 in 10 competitive games for the English champions.
“You can see the passes we give each other. We always want to go forward and attack,” Haaland told Sky Sports.
“That’s what I like about the team. In the end it’s amazing. There’s nothing more to say.”
With United also conceding four goals in the first 45 minutes at Brentford in August, United had bounced back from four Premier League victories in a row to inspire hope that they are headed in the right direction under Erik ten Hag.
But the Red Devils have suffered a stark awakening to the rift that still exists between the Manchester giants.
“For me it was a surprise. We weren’t in front, we weren’t brave with the ball and there was room to play, but we weren’t brave enough,” said Ten Hag.
“All credit goes to City, but it has nothing to do with City. Our performance was not good. It had to do with belief as individuals and as a team.”
City could have scored many more goals than the four they scored in a sizzling first-half performance that erased any doubts caused by an inconsistent start to the season from Pep Guardiola’s men.
