MANCHESTER: Erling Haaland and Phil Foden scored hat-tricks as Manches­ter City thrashed Manchester United 6-3 to move to within a point of Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday.

United needed Antony’s strike and a late Anthony Martial double to save them from a record defeat in the Manchester derby as they remain in sixth, nine points off the top.

Haaland has now scored hat-tricks in each of his last three Premier League home games to take his tally as a City player to 17 in 10 competitive games for the English champions.

Red Devils were given a rude awakening of the gulf that still exists between the Manchester giants.City could have scored many more than the four they managed in a blistering first half performance that swept away any doubts caused by an inconsistent start to the season from Pep Guardiola’s men.

Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva had all seen efforts blocked before Foden opened the floodgates on eight minutes with the Manchester native’s first derby goal.

Ilkay Gundogan’s free-kick hit the post and Foden blasted another big chance wide before Haaland inevitably made his mark on 34 minutes.

United were left to bemoan the absence of Raphael Varane to defend a De Bruyne corner as he received treatment on an ankle injury that forced him off at half-time.

Without the Frenchman, there was no match for Haaland’s presence in the penalty box as his header crossed the line before Tyrell Malacia’s attempted clearance.

Moments later, Haaland finished off a slick City counter-attack as Jack Grealish fed De Bruyne, who perfectly picked out the Norwegian to convert on the stretch at the back post.

Haaland then turned provider with a low cross that Foden converted to leave United trailing 4-0 at half-time for the third time in a year.

Unlike, in a 5-0 defeat at Old Trafford to Liverpool last season and at Brentford, there was some semblance of a United response after the break.

Antony smashed home his second goal in as many Premier League appearances since a 82 million ($92 million) move from Ajax.

But Haaland quickly reclaimed centre stage with a thumping finish to meet Sergio Gomez’s cross.City were on course to match the record margin of victory in a Manchester derby when Haaland set up Foden to smash home and complete his hat-trick.

That was Foden’s final involvement as he was withdrawn in a quadruple cha­n­ge as Guardiola could aff­ord to also hand a rest to De Bruyne, Gundogan and Grealish.

United took advantage of City taking their foot off the accelerator in the final 10 minutes as substitute Martial scored twice to cut the arrears.

The Frenchman headed in the rebound after Ederson parried Fred’s shot and then emphatically fired home from the penalty spot.

Later in the evening, Leeds United managed to hang on for a 0-0 draw at home to Aston Villa despite playing much of the second half with 10 men following midfielder Luis Sinisterra’s red card.

Leeds did not manage a shot on target but collected three bookings in a first half that had plenty of aggression but little decent attacking football from the hosts, despite the return of striker Rodrigo Moreno from injury.

On Saturday, West Ham United moved out of the relegation zone as Gianluca Scamacca’s first Premier League goal paved the way for a 2-0 home victory over struggling Wolver­hampton Wanderers.

Scamacca rifled a slightly-deflected shot past Wolves keeper Jose Sa in the 29th minute.

West Ham were by far the better side and doubled their lead through Jarrod Bowen’s sharp left-footed finish in the 54th minute after Thilo Kehrer’s blocked shot fell to him.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2022