Manchester City claimed a dominant derby day victory as Erling Haaland starred in a 3-0 win over a disjointed Manchester United at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon.
Haaland struck twice in the second period to add to Phil Foden’s first half header as the Blues pulled clear of United.
Haaland almost opened the scoring inside the first 20 seconds of the contest when he flashed a shot wide, while City debutant Gianluigi Donnarumma kept out a Benjamin Sesko effort in a frantic first five minutes.
The breakthrough came on 18 minutes when Foden pounced to put City ahead, guiding home a header after some mesmerising footwork from Jeremy Doku.
Tijjani Reijnders forced a save from Altay Bayindir as City hunted a second, while United had their moments but couldn’t fashion a truly clear cut chance in the opening 45.
The Reds began brightly enough after the break but City found a second seven minutes into the second half when Haaland finished expertly from Doku’s through ball.
Haaland nearly had a second moments later when City capitalised on some sloppy United play, but he nudged his shot against the post having rounded Bayindir.
The home side were then thankful to Donnarumma for keeping United out as the Italian produced a magnificent save to tip Bryan Mbeumo’s well struck volley behind.
But City put the game to bed midway through the half when Haaland raced clear from inside his own half with the United defence AWOL to slot past Bayindir.
There was still time for Reijnders to miss a golden chance to make it four when he raced onto Haaland’s through ball and clipped the ball over Bayindir but wide of the far post.
MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS
