Manchester City demonstrated the infinite difference with which they currently surpass Manchester United, whom they overwhelmed and crushed with tremendous authority, with the insatiable and unstoppable voracity of Erling Haaland and Phil Foden - both scoring three goals and providing two assists in the case of the Norwegian -, with the precision of Kevin de Bruyne and with the football of an imposing team, in pursuit of Arsenal at the top, after an exhibition that was diminished in the last moments with a double by Anthony Martial (6-3).
To the 'machine' led by Pep Guardiola, still one point behind the leader, still the only unbeaten team in this season in the English competition, it took just a while - just over half an hour - to knock out its opponent with a sequence of impressive blows, the result of the superiority imposed from the beginning over its opponent, which it cornered, shook, and overcame with an indisputable and expressive forcefulness.
United had no response in the first half, knocked down after four consecutive victories. They felt overwhelmed in every contest, in every sector, in every possession, in every retreat, in every transition, in every attack, in each of the circumstances that encompass a match, in each of the qualities in which Manchester City surpassed them, who had already had three chances within three minutes and had already conceded the 1-0 in the eighth minute, a beautiful combined play by Guardiola's team.
It all started with Foden on the right wing. And it all ended with Foden as well, inside the box, with the shot, when he finished the pass from Bernardo Silva on the left. There were three first-touch passes to go from one side to the other, in addition to the deep pass to the left flank by Cancelo. The United's defense didn't even notice - or couldn't do anything about it - they seemed like mere spectators of a perfectly executed play, unattainable for each of them.
Afterwards, Gundogan hit a magnificent free kick that hit the post, Foden aimed for the 2-0, just like Kevin de Bruyne did with a shot that hit the crossbar, while Varane was on the ground in pain from a ball to his left ankle that would leave him injured for the rest of the match. They were all "warm-up" acts for the gigantic performance that Haaland offered later, a striker for the history books at just 22 years old, but with 103 goals in 100 matches in his career or 15 goals in eight matches this season with City. An incredible feat.
His last nine shots on target with City at the Etihad Stadium have been goals, three of them this Sunday, when he became a cyclone that destroyed United's defensive structure, between the 34th and 64th minutes, in half an hour of game time in which he converted every shot. Another astonishing display from an incredible forward, from whom no limits seem to be apparent yet.
Two of the goals came in the first half: his first, in the 34th minute, the 2-0, was a header from a corner kick that Malacia already had inside the box and which should prompt Erik Ten Hag to reflect, as Christian Eriksen was responsible for marking him, and the forward easily got rid of him; the second, the 3-0 in the 37th minute, came with a left-footed shot as he threw himself to finish off a wonderful cross from De Bruyne (he has been involved in 31 goals in his last 31 league matches, scoring 16 and providing 15 assists).
His third goal, in the 64th minute, was City's fifth and came with a left-footed shot inside the box, as if it were the easiest thing in the world, when it is so difficult for so many forwards all over the planet. Haaland was not only a goalscorer this Sunday, as he also provided two assists to the other star of a historic victory: Phil Foden, the scorer of the 1-0, as well as the 4-0 and the 6-1.
The young forward, also 22 years old like Haaland, scored the 4-0 in the 43rd minute and enhanced his great performance with the 6-1 in the 73rd minute, when he placed a left-footed shot into the top corner from another cross by his Norwegian teammate in front of Manchester United's goal, which didn't appear on the opposing side until the 56th minute when Antony scored a fantastic goal (4-1), and they made the embarrassing defeat more bearable with the goals 6-2 in the 84th minute and 6-3 from a penalty in the 90th minute, scored by Martial.
Cristiano Ronaldo didn't even play, Casemiro came off the bench in the 59th minute when United were already trailing by 4-1, and Aymeric Laporte made his comeback in the City's lineup after being out since the beginning of the season, a month and a half before the start of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
SOURCE: EFE
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