…Opta Tips United For Relegation
Erling Haaland scored twice after Phil Foden opened the scoring as Manchester City returned to winning ways in the Premier League by beating floundering rivals Manchester United at Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s side came into the game with some concerns having suffered back-to-back defeats before the international break, but fears of another loss were allayed with goals from two players who enjoy playing against United.
The win was a poignant one on a day when City paid tribute to former boxing world champion Ricky Hatton, a well-known fan of the club whose death aged 46 was announced earlier on Sunday.
Speedy winger Jeremy Doku was pivotal for the first two goals, jinking through with quick feet to pull the ball back for local boy Foden to head home the opener on 18 minutes.
City doubled their advantage on 53 minutes when star striker Haaland latched on to Doku’s pass before holding off Luke Shaw and dinking in a sumptuous finish.
Haaland, who pulled narrowly wide in the opening 10 seconds, should have scored a second immediately after netting when he took the ball round Altay Bayindir but somehow sent the ball against the post with an open goal gaping in front of him.
But the 25-year-old was not to be denied on 68 minutes when he ran clear from the halfway line and made no mistake with an unerring finish past the Turkish keeper.
Towering goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was thrown straight in for his City debut in this match after the deadline day move from Paris St-Germain and the Italy captain made a superb save at full stretch to deny Bryan Mbeumo’s volley.
But United were not good enough in the final third of the pitch once again and drop to 14th with just one victory this season, while City’s win moves them up to eighth.
…Amorim Insists On Philosophy
Meanwhile, Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has doubled down on his commitment to his controversial 3-4-3 system, saying he will not change and that for a different philosophy you have to “change the man”.
United’s 3-0 defeat at Manchester City means that, with four points from four games, they have made their poorest start to a league season since 1992-93 under Sir Alex Ferguson.
That season marked the end of United’s 26-year wait to win the title but before optimism about a repeat starts to build, that was a 42-game campaign and, more importantly, did not contain a transfer window. Ferguson could go out and buy Eric Cantona in November, which changed the course of history.
Despite spending more than £200m on new players in the last two summers, after just four games, stats guru Opta say United now stands more chance (11%) of getting relegated this season than of finishing inside the top five (7.3%).