Haaland Bags A Brace As Manchester City Stroll To Victory Over Neighbours United
Erling Haaland scored twice, and Phil Foden added a third as Manchester City comfortably defeated Manchester United 3-0 in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
The first half started in the perfect way for the away side as they bossed the start of the game by dominating the ball and chance creation, although they were frustrated at being unable to find a breakthrough in the opening stages.
The defence of the Red Devils, however, could not handle the pressure from the Premier League champions forever and they finally caved to the onslaught after 24 minutes when Rodri was fouled in the box by Rasmus Hojlund after shaking off 20-year-old at a corner.
The Norwegian grabbed the Spaniard who dropped to the ground, and following a VAR check the penalty was awarded. Up stepped Haaland, who scored from the spot against Young Boys in midweek, to reliably slot past Andre Onana into the bottom-right corner of the goal.
City then grew in confidence and would head into half-time having amassed 1.54 expected goals (xG) from seven shots and controlled 61% of the ball although they were given a big warning on the stroke of half-time as Scott McTominay stinged the palms of Ederson with a good effort on the half-volley.
It didn’t take Pep Guardiola’s team long to consolidate their position after half-time as Haaland added his second of the game from close range.
The goal started when Rodri sprayed a diagonal ball to Jack Grealish on the left, who waited for Bernando Silva to overlap before teeing up the Portuguese to cross to an unmarked Haaland, who headed back across the goal and past a despairing Onana.
It wouldn’t be until the 69th minute when United had their best chance as Marcus Rashford chested a long ball onto his right-foot but could only fire his effort wide of the far-left post with Ederson rooted.
City then put the game to bed as they stepped up the intensity after the Rashford flashpoint. In the 80th minute, Foden turned home from Haaland’s pass across the box after Onana spilled a fiercely-driven shot from Rodri into the path of the lethal Norwegian.
It would have been a sweet moment for Foden to score at Old Trafford, as he is a Manchester-born City fan living his dream.
Impact on the Premier League table
Manchester City are now up to third in the standings, level on points with Arsenal but below them on goals scored (22 to 23) and they now trail Tottenham Hotspur by just two points. City have now won eight games and lost twice this season.
Meanwhile, Manchester United drop to eighth in the table, having won five and lost five of their 10 games this season. They’re now eight points off the top four and have a goal difference of minus five and have only scored 11 times in 10 games as Erik Ten Hag continues to attempt to get them back into some sort of form.
