Manchester United suffered a brutal 6-3 defeat to Manchester City as their Premier League winning run came to an end.
The fixture saw Erik ten Hag play the same XI that started in the victory over Arsenal, with Cristiano Ronaldo once again on the bench.
Ultimately, the defeat is one of hurt and brutal honesty as United were completely outclassed, despite scoring three.
First Half
United kicked the derby off, and almost instantly Diogo Dalot was issued a yellow card for a foul on Jack Grealish, and this was followed by a goal-mouth scramble that saw a David de Gea save coupled my multiple blocked shots thanks to Scott McTominay on his goal, however the score remained level.
However it did not take long for City to find their lead, with Phil Foden slotting in a low cut back from Bernardo Silva behind De Gea.
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United's front pressure attempted to disrupt City's back line and a half-chance fell to Marcus Rashford with Ederson losing possession, however he could not find his feet and the moment was lost. City continued to apply pressure, with Ilkay Gundogan hitting the post with a free-kick and another Foden shot flying just too high, and by 20 minutes, the men in blue were in complete control of the tie.
United's other full back, Tyrell Malacia, then was handed a yellow card for a foul on aforementioned Englishman, which understandably sent alarm bells ringing.
It took until 33 minutes for the second goal to go in, with it being scored by the man in form, Erling Haaland. Despite a great effort effort from Malacia to keep the ball out, goal-line technology judged Haaland's towering header from a corner to have crossed the line.
Then again four minutes later he was back on target after a world class delivery from Kevin De Bruyne to put City three goals to the good, and then assisted Foden for a fourth before half time.
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Towards the end of the first half Raphael Varane was replaced by Victor Lindelof due to injury.
Second Half
The second half saw Luke Shaw replace Tyrell Malacia, with Erik ten Hag wary of the yellow card hanging over the Dutchman's head.
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Immediately, the fixture felt incredibly flat. Everyone knew the end result, United fans were leaving the stadium at half time, and the players turned to training routine mode.
That was until Antony decided to unleash an incredible bending strike beyond Ederson's right hand side which left the Etihad in a stunned silence, as well as a moment of sweet in what was a very dark day for United.
At the hour mark, Rashford was replaced by Anthony Martial and McTominay by Casemiro, with Erik ten Hag no doubt managing Rashford's minutes. Fred also came on to replace Jadon Sancho.
City continued to run riot, with both Haaland and Foden completing their hattricks with around 20 minutes left. At this point, the game was totally and utterly moot, and Bruno Fernandes was booked for complaining to the referee.
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Anthony Martial grabbed one back after heading in a rebounded effort from an Ederson save, and also converted a a penalty he won in the dying moments of the game.
To the relief of Manchester United fans worldwide, the final whistle blue after a long torturous 90 minutes.
Topics: Manchester United, Manchester City, Premier League, Erling Haaland, Erik Ten Hag
Dylan Penketh