Manchester City's Erling Haaland struck his first two goals at Old Trafford as they dominated Manchester United in a 3-0 thrashing in Sunday's heated Premier League derby.
Pep Guardiola's treble winners are third in the standings on 24 points after 10 games, two points behind leaders Tottenham Hotspur. United, whose defeat was their first in four games in all competitions, are eighth with 15 points.
There is a growing sense he is struggling to come up with answers. Mitigating circumstances only go so far when United have just offered up City’s second-easiest win of the season, in what is supposed to be the fixture that means the most. Only Fulham were beaten by more, but it still felt like they put up more of a fight. So did relative European minnows in the modern game such as Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys Bern. They only lost 3-1 to the European champions.
How United would have valued even the reprieve of the goal here. City were simply so much better than them without even needing to be that good.
Of course, City’s comfortable 3-0 win over United wasn’t Højlund’s fault; last season’s treble-winners are just so much better than their neighbours. It would also be unfair to compare virtually any striker in world football to Haaland, and no one is suggesting the Danish forward should be registering the kind of numbers to rival City’s talisman.
But seeing the pair in such close proximity for the first time in English football almost summed up the broader chasm between their respective teams, which on the evidence of this season, isn’t likely to be bridged anytime soon.
Højlund can’t be accused of lacking endeavour. He’s shown throughout his first couple of months at United that he’s a willing runner, and when the occasion allows, his running power makes him a real threat in behind.
It’s become a familiar criticism that United’s squad lacks coherence, and for a time that could be explained by the fact that it had been put together by multiple managers. The worry now must be that those signed by Ten Hag are making so little impact. Højlund buzzed around willingly enough, but he is just 20 and has still not scored a Premier League goal. Antony didn’t get on until the 86th minute and his only notable contribution was a petulant swipe at Jérémy Doku. Christian Eriksen couldn’t handle Silva in the first half and then let Rodri drift by him far too easily in the buildup to City’s third goal. Sofyan Amrabat, removed at half‑time, looked what he is: another stopgap signing brought in to plug a gap. Mason Mount, brought on at the break, touched the ball just 14 times and never with any sense of menace. Evans is 35.
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