What a horrible afternoon that was for everyone associated with Manchester United. If the 6-1 loss in the Manchester Derby over a decade ago was an incredible and unexpected debacle for the then-Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, this 6-3 loss of Erik ten Hag’s team to Manchester City seems not only inevitable, but also not as harsh as it could have been.
Pep Guardiola’s side steamrolled the Red Devils in the big derby, making it painful to watch for the red half of Manchester. Man City were 4-0 up by the end of the first half, thanks to braces from Phil Foden and Erling Haaland. When Antony scored a beautiful goal before the hour mark, he only enraged City further more, who then scored two more goals – allowing Foden and Haaland to both net a hat-trick. Anthony Martial’s brace in the dying minutes of the game only made things just slightly better for Man United, but not even remotely enough.
Erling Haaland Destroys Man United
What a performance from Erling Haaland, who keeps breaking records in almost every game he plays. The Norwegian freak tormented Man United in an unimaginable fashion almost, scoring three goals and adding two assists to his name. He was everywhere, making Man United defenders look frightened of him and his presence. Haaland’s qualities have made him seem unstoppable, with United players having no real clue what they are supposed to do. Of course, this was aided by the phenomenal Phil Foden and Kevin de Bruyne, but nevertheless, it was Haaland that brought in the fear factor early on, from which United never seemed likely to recover.
All Of Defensive Frailties Shown
We have seen in the past United’s ability to fall apart when things go south and this time it is hard to say whether there was more of that or City’s amazing quality. But the fact is that United got to see all their defensive problems. Raphael Varane struggled on the pitch and then added to the problems when he had to come off due to injury. Lisandro Martinez could not cope with Haaland and one of Norwegian’s goals ultimately happened due to the centre-back’s inability to stop Kevin de Bruyne’s cross with a simple header. Then there was the naive central midfield partnership of Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen, who are both unable to keep up with the tempo of teams like City. Dalot and Malacia also struggled throughout, completing the disaster…
Cristiano Remains On The Bench
In the end, one of the main talking points after the game was why Cristiano Ronaldo sat out the entire match on the bench. But considering the gulf in class between the two sides, the question could also be would things be any different if he played throughout? Maybe, but the overwhelming feeling is that it would not matter much. Ten Hag said post-match that he did not want to bring Cristiano on out of respect for his great career, which is a sensible thing to do. But then again, it is now also becoming an apparent question whether there is any point for Ronaldo to stay at Man United beyond this first half of the season. He was brought in to bring United closer to the likes of City and others, but right now, that does not seem to be working.
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