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A brace from Phil Foden helped Manchester City beat arch-rivals Manchester United in the 'Manchester Derby' Premier League clash by 3-1 and reduce the deficit with table-toppers Liverpool to just one point on Sunday.
A thunderous long-range strike from Marcus Rashford handed United an early lead and the Red Devils remained in control due to a missed opportunity by City's star striker Erling Haaland. But United could not hold on to it. The victory has extended the City's unbeaten run to 19 games. United manager Ten Hag had described Rashford as "unstoppable" earlier and the star striker justified his manager's words with his goal in eighth minute. Goalkeeper Andre Onana's long ball was held by Bruno Fernandes, who was played on-side by Nathan Ake and it was Rashford who did the rest. Towards the end of the first 45 minutes, Foden delivered a measured header and it needed very little effort from Haaland to put the ball into a vacant net but the ball went over the bar. After Rashford was denied a free kick, Ten Hag protested by throwing his water bottle on the playing surface. Foden scored an equaliser in the 56th minute. Later, Foden combined with Julian Alvarez to score the equaliser in the 80th minute. Rashford was substituted with the scores level, but the other Englishman, Foden was not done. With just a few minutes left on the clock, Rodri set Haaland up for a goal that had eluded him earlier and the star striker finally managed to make it right this time. City is in the second spot with 62 points, after 19 wins, five draws and three losses in 27 matches. United is in the sixth spot with 44 points, after 14 wins, two draws and 11 losses in 27 matches. Following the match, City boss Pep Guardiola heaped praises on Foden, calling him one of the best players in the league. "He is, right now, this season, one of the best. Always, I had the feeling that he would score goals, in training sessions, I always had the feeling. Now he is winning games. To be a world-class player, you have to win games," said Pep as quoted by Sky Sports. "He always has an incredible work ethic, it does not matter what position he plays, he lives to play football, but now he is winning games. Against Bournemouth, he was incredible. After missing the first chance against [Andre] Onana, he became a little bit anxious. That is from his age, he will learn from that," concluded the manager. On the other hand, United manager Ten Hag defended his side, saying that the team gave their everything, even if two players, Jonny Evans and Rashford were not at their 100 per cent physically. "The players gave everything. We had two players on the pitch who were not 100 per cent - Jonny Evans and Marcus Rashford. As a team they gave everything. The performance is very good. Of course, we are disappointed with the score," said Ten Hag. "They fought in togetherness, but also the performance is good. On another day we could have won this game. Small margins. It is true. Rashford is through and we can go for a second goal, Garnacho is through and we can go for a second goal but in both moments we got beaten." "Really small margins. We could have scored a second goal. It is not that big, especially when we have everyone on board, we can be competitive. City is, do not forget this, in this moment, the best team in the world," he concluded. (ANI)
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