Erling Haaland powers City to Manchester derby win over United

The defending Premier League champions registered a 3-0 win in the most recent edition of the Manchester derby at Old Trafford.

It has almost become a miserable routine at this point but the sight of dejected Manchester United players making their way and offering a futile thanks to thousands of empty seats at Old Trafford encapsulated the Manchester Derby on Sunday, and Manchester United’s struggles as a whole.

Just a year on from their promising step forward under Erik ten Hag with the Carabao Cup being their first silverware since 2017 along with a return to the Champions League, all hell has broken loose in this side of the town once again this season.

Sure, no team likes being on the receiving end of a 3-0 humbling in a derby, especially against their cross-town neighbours. But what truly ruined the night for the Red Devils faithful is the ease with which Manchester City played them out of the park. The gulf between the two sides has hardly ever been greater.

By the time Phil Foden put the ball in the net for the final time in the night, 10 minutes before the referee’s final whistle, hundreds of fans already started making their way towards the exit gates. They’d previously seen Erling Haaland - inarguably the most lethal striker in the world - score twice, including one header where he was completely and bafflingly alone at the far post. How do you leave the most dangerous striker in the world with that much space? Only Manchester United and Erik ten Hag have the answers.

What began with an impressive tribute to the late great Sir Bobby Charlton with the Sir Alex Ferguson stand at Old Trafford holding a banner in his memory ended with nothing but debacle and dejection. To rub the misery home, City fans were out singing chants of “Mind the Gap!”, “Old Trafford is falling down!”, and “We’ve got Guardiola!”

For just a little while in the first half, both teams looked like on equal-pegging and striving to get the upper hand in the game. But it didn’t take long for Guardiola’s unit to switch gears and they managed to do that effortlessly. Haaland began the night with nine goals in the league and ended with 11.

The breakthrough arrived when his counterpart in the opposition side, Rasmus Hojlund, was guilty of pulling Rodri down in the box. Up stepped Haaland and sent goalkeeper Andre Onana diving the wrong way to open the floodgates at Old Trafford.

In fact, had it not been for Onana, the scoreline could’ve been so much worse. The Cameroonian goalkeeper made a spectacular save from close range after Haaland found himself with acres of space at the backpost. You would think that having afforded Haaland that much space to test the keeper and getting away with it would’ve meant the United defenders would be on their toes.

However, the Norwegian’s second goal of the night came from a similar move at the other end after half time. Bernardo Silva floated in a testing ball and this time Haaland made no mistakes, stretching his goal tally.

To put the final nail in United’s coffin, the City number 9 selflessly turned provider. Despite having the chance to test Onana again, he squared the ball to Foden who made no mistake tapping into an empty goal.

The Reds’ manager Ten Hag had little answers for the embarrassment that unfolded on the pitch. “When you face City, they will go up to press and so to play with Rafa [Varane on the right] and Maguire on the left – that can give problems and then you end up kicking long balls. He is better on the right, Harry, especially against teams pressing high and then you have to step in on the left, especially against [Julián] Álvarez.”

What began as a promising project has quickly turned into a nightmare. United are now eighth in the league standings with five wins and five losses from their 10 games. Ten Hag is running out of time to turn his ship around and if the Manchester derby was anything to go by, the fans have already started to give up on their side.

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