PHIL Foden was the hero today as Manchester City came from behind to beat Manchester United 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium to close the gap on leaders Liverpool in the English Premier League.
The England forward scored twice and Erling Haaland netted the third goal as City cancelled out Marcus Rashford’s early opening goal for the visitors.
Rashford gave United the lead in the eighth minute with a spectacular strike, hitting the ball from distance into the top corner from Bruno Fernandes’ lay-off.
After taking the lead, Erik ten Hag’s side ceded possession to the hosts and defended deep, looking to catch City on the counter-attack. It almost worked but Rashford, Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho failed to take advantage of good openings.
City responded after the break and they were level within 11 minutes of the second half, Foden hitting a powerful strike past goalkeeper Andre Onana, who was unbeatable in the first half.
Foden struck again 10 minutes from time as he ran through a big gap in the United defence to slot past a helpless Onana.
Haaland made certain of the points in added time as Manchester City took advantage of Manchester United’s sloppiness to set up the prolific Norwegian for a simple close-range finish.
Manchester City have now won three consecutive home league games against Manchester United for the first time in 69 years, according to Squawka.
With the result, City are in second place in the table, back to within a point of Liverpool, while United are sixth, 11 points adrift of Aston Villa, who currently occupy the last guaranteed UEFA Champions League spot.
