Erling Haaland’s brace brought Manchester City a thrilling victory on derby day, overshadowing a lackluster Manchester United who suffered an embarrassing defeat at home.
In the 191st Manchester derby, all eyes were on Old Trafford as the two neighbors clashed.
Haaland netted a penalty and a header before playing in Phil Foden to wrap up a 3-0 victory.
As it happened
The game began with the Blues looking a little disjointed before finally getting into a rhythm and almost taking the lead eight minutes in.
City’s relentless pressure paid off as Foden earned a free-kick from 35 yards out.
When his cross entered the box, Rodrigo seemed to be held back by Rasmus Hojl
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Shortly after, referee Paul Tierney halted the game for a VAR review.After viewing the pitch side monitor, the official confirmed that Rodrigo had indeed been fouled and awarded a penalty.
Haaland remained composed and slotted the ball past Onana to put City 1-0 ahead.
This marked City’s first penalty at Old Trafford since 1991.
The remainder of the half saw the Reds pegged back in their own final third as City dominated possession.
However, the home team created an excellent opportunity to equalize in first-half injury time when Scott McTominay concluded a counter-attack with a powerful, rising shot from the edge of the box.
Ederson made a superb save to push the shot wide of the post.
City responded with what should have been a second goal after a patient build-up ended with Bernardo’s deft cross from the left finding the head of Haaland.
However, Haaland’s choice to place the ball centrally enabled Onana to execute a point-blank save.
A deliberate attacking move saw Julian Alvarez change the direction of play, locating Grealish on the left wing.
Grealish patiently waited for the overlapping Bernardo and once again, the Portuguese winger delivered a precise cross that Haaland emphatically headed home to double the score to 2-0.
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Danger became evident during a rare United attack in the 69th minute when Marcus Rashford found himself unmarked in the box.
After controlling the ball with his chest, he sent an angled shot just wide of the goal.
Two minutes later, Grealish threaded a pass to Haaland in the box, but Onana managed to claw away his shot, resulting in a corner.
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The goal that ultimately sealed the victory came when ,Haaland unselfishly found Foden’s run into the six-yard box, and the Englishman calmly flicked the ball into the net to make it 3-0.
