Derby day delight for Man City: Haaland and Foden register unique EPL milestone with hat-tricks against United

Demolition on derby day sums up what Manchester United endured at Etihad by Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday as hat-tricks from the unstoppable Erling Haaland and Phil Foden helped the hosts secure an emphatic 6-3 win.

In the first three minutes of the highly-anticipated clash, City made three attempts, with Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, and Jack Grealish all seeing their shots stopped in quick succession. However, Pep Guardiola's men made the most of that dominance in the 8th minute as Foden secured a sensational goal.

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Haaland joined the party as the Norwegian scored his eighth goal in a row for City after rising highest from a corner to give the hosts complete control. The 22-year-old, however, was not done there as he bagged his second strike just three minutes later, sparking massive jubilation among fans at a packed Etihad.

Just before half-time, Haaland provided a gorgeous ball into the path of Foden, who smashed the ball at the back of the net.

After the break, Manchester United scored a consolation goal with their first shot on target, as Antony blasted a spectacular attempt past Ederson from the outskirts of the area. But after 65 minutes, City regained a four-goal lead when Haaland struck his third hat-trick in as many outings.

Foden matched Haaland's feats by scoring a hat-trick of his own to tie the derby score record. Red Devils' forward Martial scored a goal after Fred's original attempt to make it 6-2 before adding a penalty to make it a three-goal game.

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Haaland and Foden's hat-tricks helped the City duo register a Premier League milestone as this is only the third time in the English top flight that two players have scored a hat-trick in the same game. The first time it happened in the league was on May 7, 2003, when Arsenal's Robert Pires and Jermaine Pennant scored hat-tricks in a 6-1 victory over Southampton. The second time was on October 26, 2019 when Leicester City's Ayoze Perez and Jamie Vardy smashed hat-tricks against Southampton.

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It was the third home game in a row where Haaland has scored a hat-trick for Manchester City – the first time anyone has ever done it. The Norway international is also the first City player to score a hat-trick versus United since Francis Lee in December 1970, and third overall (also Horace Barnes in Oct 1921).

After this victory, Manchester City fans took to Twitter to express delight over the derby day win and claimed Haaland was 'unstoppable'. Here's a look at some of the reactions on the micro-blogging site: