Manchester City striker Erling Haaland scored twice in a 3-0 Premier League demolition of Manchester United on Sunday, handing Pep Guardiola’s side bragging rights in the latest Manchester derby.
Phil Foden opened the scoring in the 18th minute, heading in Jeremy Doku’s cross after the Belgian winger danced through United’s defence, saw his first attempt blocked, and dug out a second delivery that Foden guided home.
Haaland, who has now registered seven goals in the past week for club and country, struck his first of the afternoon eight minutes after the restart. Doku muscled past Lenny Yoro before sliding the ball to the Norwegian, who coolly chipped over goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.
The 25-year-old forward added his second in the 68th minute, sprinting clear from the centre circle after Bernardo Silva’s through ball, easily outpacing Harry Maguire before finishing past Bayindir.
“You could feel it from the fans, we needed this,” Haaland said. “You always want to win the derby but you could feel it extra today. I’m so relieved, so happy we managed to do it all together. We have to keep going. Today we’re super happy.”
City climbed to eighth in the table with their second win in four matches, while United slumped to 14th with just one victory.
Haaland nearly completed a hat-trick when he struck the post with Bayindir beaten, leaving Guardiola momentarily celebrating before holding his head in disbelief. The victory capped a remarkable week for the striker, who netted five goals in Norway’s 11-1 thrashing of Moldova in midweek and also notched his 50th Premier League home goal in his 50th appearance at the Etihad a feat bettered only by Alan Shearer, who required 47 games.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, City’s new goalkeeper, also impressed, saving smartly from Benjamin Sesko early on and later denying Bryan Mbeumo with a diving stop.
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United captain Bruno Fernandes admitted his side had been second best. “The result is very bad, very bad on us,” he said. “The goals could have been avoided. On the ball we were very positive, very brave, but when we created chances we could have been more clean. We wanted what City got and that’s the three points.”
The derby opened with a thunderous minute’s appreciation for British boxing legend Ricky Hatton, who died at the age of 46. Foden dedicated his goal to the lifelong City fan.
“I had extra motivation going into the game, it was for him and his family and for the people suffering right now,” Foden said. “The lads gave everything. It wasn’t a pretty match but it was all for him.”
