OPINIONKevin De Bruyne's ruthless message to Bruno Fernandes and more moments missed from Man City vs Manchester United
The moments you might have missed from Manchester City's Premier League victory over Man Utd at the Etihad Stadium.
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Ten Hag and Guardiola get a shower
Before the warm-ups, new Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag took a stroll around the Etihad pitch to assess his surroundings ahead of his first derby. However, he was forced to run for cover as the pitch sprinklers began to wet the surface, giving Ten Hag a minor soaking in the process.
Then, when Pep Guardiola ventured out to speak to the Sky Sports matchday team, the sprinklers had the Manchester City boss, plus United legends Gary Neville and Roy Keane, running away from their desk to avoid a shower of their own. Neville, in particular, looked furious, while Guardiola joked the pre-match watering was a key tactic of City's in the game.
Ruthless City show no mercy
After taking a deserved early lead through Phil Foden, City slowed the derby down and tried to reset. When they decided it was time to get a second, they camped in the United half and took it in turns to shoot on goal - even when Raphael Varane was down 20 yards out having hurt his ankle. The Blues played on, won a corner through Kevin De Bruyne, and from that set-piece Erling Haaland doubled the lead with a towering header.
ALSO READ: Man City player ratings as Phil Foden and Erling Haaland destroy Manchester United
United players, led by Bruno Fernandes, had surrounded the referee to protest furiously that the game hadn't stopped for Varane, but De Bruyne made a point of telling Fernandes to back off, also having a diplomatic chat with David De Gea. With Varane off the pitch, Haaland rose highest from De Bruyne's corner, and City's ruthless mentality earned them a valuable second goal.
Who's in charge?
United's defence were looking for a leader, or anything resembling a structure from the moment they stepped off the coach and into the Etihad, with City imperious throughout the 90 minutes to record one of their most memorable derby wins in history. However, when City were 6-0 ahead and Guardiola brought four players on at once, it was City looking for a leader.
With De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan going off, and Kyle Walker replaced earlier - plus Ruben Dias and Rodri not involved - City had no members of their captaincy group on the pitch, leaving Aymeric Laporte unsure who to pass the captain's armband to. In the end, after Gundogan looked equally confused, Laporte put the armband on himself on his return from injury and first appearance of the season.
Fans mock United
There were United fans leaving the Etihad even before half-time, and more followed with each City goal in the second half. After Haaland made it five for City, the Poznan stretched right around the stadium, and the City fans began to 'Ole' each United pass if they ever strung a move together. 'We want ten' was another mocking chant from behind the goal.
The fans have a well-rehearsed chant to commemorate their other 6-1 win over United, and that predictably got an airing after Foden's third and City's sixth, with the scoreline the same as that Old Trafford rout at the time. The Blues faithful might have to add some more verses to the song after another historic result over their rivals, although Anthony Martial's late consolation brace spoiled the symmetry.
On the full-time whistle, the Etihad tannoy played Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear You Apart', inviting fans to sing their own version about tearing United apart.
Two match-balls needed
Erling Haaland has three City hat-tricks now, becoming the first player to score back-to-back-to-back hat-tricks in Premier League home games. This was a first career hat-trick for Foden, though, who also passed 50 goals for City on Sunday. At full time, Haaland quickly secured the match ball from the referee, before captain Ilkay Gundogan cheekily took it off him and threw it to Foden as a nice gesture.
However, someone else had found a separate ball for Foden, leaving him with two and Haaland without one. So Foden threw one to Haaland, which missed, and then it ended up being kicked away. If finding enough match balls for Haaland is going to become an issue for City, finding enough for others as well will be a very good problem for City to have.
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