Erling Haaland and Phil Foden each scored hat tricks on Sunday as Erik ten Hag was humiliated in his first Manchester derby, leaving a number of vacant seats in the away part of the audience. Many United supporters did not come up for the second half.
Erik ten Hag attributed Manchester United’s “hammering” in Sunday’s 6-3 derby day demolition of Manchester City to a lack of conviction.
The Red Devils were dealt a blow at the Etihad Stadium after four straight Premier League victories helped them recover from concerning losses to Brighton and Brentford.
The highest scoring Manchester derby included hat-tricks from Phil Foden and Erling Haaland as City racked up the points.
A fantastic second-half goal from summer signing Antony for United was supplemented by Anthony Martial’s two goals as a substitute, but by that time, several frustrated visitor supporters had already left the stadium.
Manager Ten Hag added, “I also told the players (it was) a lack of belief. “I saw some of the highlights. It was clear that we weren’t defending aggressively; instead, we let them play.
“We were in possession, weren’t daring enough, made mistakes with our technical knowledge and decisions, and then you get crushed.”
The Dutchman responded when told that professional footballers had to have faith: “I believe often it’s the other way around.
“For instance, we have brought that approach on the field in our last five games. We are very convincing and create issues to the opposition.
“Today it was reversed, but I believe it is standard in our process for the pattern to increase, and I believe I can plainly observe that it does so.
“However, there will be setbacks during that process, and we must learn from them while making the message very clear.
We can choose to ignore it, but doing so will prevent us from finding a solution.
Manchester City defeated Manchester United‘s rivalry 6-3 at the Etihad and closed the gap on Premier League leader Arsenal to one point. It was also Haaland’s third hat trick in as many home league games this season.
