Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen looked utterly gutted at full-time whistle as he gave an honest and brutal assessment of the his side’s horrendous display in the Manchester Derby. United were on a four-game winning streak going into the Derby against neighbours Manchester City, before finding themselves 4-0 down at the half-time. The Red Devils let in two more in the second-half, and responded with three goals in return as City ran riot in the derby with a 6-3 win.
Man City’s Phil Foden and Erling Haaland netted hat-tricks as Pep Guardiola’s men in blue toyed with Erik ten Hag’s toothless team. The Dutchman had left his star forward Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench, but the damage was so disastrous that he had to admit he didn’t sub-on the Portuguese “out of respect”. Eriksen further confessed that his team ‘lacked courage’ and needs to pick themselves up from here.
Christian Eriksen concedes his teammates need to ‘change a lot’ after derby drubbing
Just when United were showing signs of improvement, the Derby hammering came as a reality check for Ten Hag and his men, who had picked wins against Liverpool and Arsenal earlier in the season. Moreover, it was just two months back that United were 4-0 down at the half-time against Brentford, and it was a repeat of events at Etihad. While one may feel Antony’s goal and Anthony Martial’s double were the positives to take from, there was no such thing in United’s humbling.
Eriksen, who had to collect himself after a drab performance in the derby to speak in a post-match presser said:
“It came very heavy. Everyone feels it was a very bad day at the office. We started on the wrong foot. They had chances straight from kick-off. We can only blame ourselves. We missed a bit of courage to play out from the back and we let them be at their strength. The main focus from this game will be on ourselves.
“There are a lot of things we need to change and a lot of things we need to do better. Today was far from acceptable from what we should be doing.”
United became the latest victims of City’s brand new weapon Erling Haaland who was signed from Borussia Dortmund this summer. The striker has made the Premier League look easier, scoring 14 goals in 8 games which include three hat-tricks. He also became the fastest player to do so in the history of the Premier League, eclipsing Michael Owen’s record where the former Liverpool striker needed 48 games to net three trebles.
United now need to gather themselves up as they next face Omonia in Europa League. Ten Hag will certainly ring in heavy changes to his starting line-up from the derby defeat as the Dutchman will demand a staunching response. As of the Premier League, the Red Devils are up against Everton next weekend at Goodison Park, who are playing some good football under Frank Lampard and are searching for only their third win in the league.