MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Erling Haaland struck twice as Manchester City inflicted another damaging defeat on Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim with a comprehensive 3-0 win on Sunday.
Phil Foden opened the scoring before Haaland took center stage with a second-half double, either side of an incredible miss from the Norwegian, as City bounced back from two consecutive Premier League defeats.
United went into a derby ahead of City in the Premier League table for the first time in five years.
But that owed more to City’s early season struggles than signs of progress for Amorim’s men, who have taken just four points from their opening four games and been dumped out of the League Cup by fourth-tier Grimsby.
“In these kind of games we need to be perfect and in this game we were not perfect,” said Amorim.
“The frustration is always the same because with the amount of chances (we create), we need to score goals.”
To cap a fine City display, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma marked his debut with a stunning save from Bryan Mbeumo to deny United a foothold in the game at 2-0.
City remain six points adrift of leaders Liverpool, but victory is a huge confidence boost for Pep Guardiola’s side ahead of facing Serie A champions Napoli and Premier League title rivals Arsenal next week.
“We needed this,” said Haaland. “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 altogether.
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