City turned the Manchester derby into a clinic, with Haaland scoring three and the visitors' defense looking like they had never seen the home side before.
Manchester City handed United a 5-2 thrashing in the season's most lopsided derby in recent memory, and Erling Haaland walked off with the match ball. The Norwegian striker now sits at 28 league goals on the season, and the rest of the table is beginning to calculate the math.
United were in this game for about twenty minutes. After that, City's midfield turned the screw, the visiting back line was cut open repeatedly, and Haaland did what Haaland does. The third was the kind of finish that makes goalkeepers wonder why they ever bothered with the angle.
For United, this is not a one-off; it is part of a season-long pattern. Their fans walked out before the final whistle for the second derby running. The club's front office has plenty to discuss this week, and very little of it is encouraging.
For City, the result tightens the table further. Their next three fixtures look winnable on paper, and Haaland is approaching territory that nobody in the league has touched in years.