Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag believes a lack of belief shown by his players from the very first whistle was the catalyst for their humiliating 6-3 derby defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Hat-tricks from Phil Foden and Erling Haaland swept United aside, firing City into a 6-1 lead with just under 20 minutes still to play. However, the Reds did ensure that they made the scoreline look a little more respectable by full time, scoring twice late on through substitute Anthony Martial.
Nevertheless, the damage had long since been done, with United, in the first half, failing to deal with a rampant City side, who were inspired by goalscoring machine Haaland. He scored twice and grabbed the assist for Foden's second, meaning Pep Guardiola's side were 4-0 up by the half time interval.
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Although it took City eight minutes to break the deadlock, with Foden sweeping the ball home from close quarters, Ten Hag, who must get a reaction from his players when they face Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League on Thursday night, felt United let themselves down from inside the opening minute of the encounter, pointing to a lack of belief and the incorrect mentality being on show.
"It is over when you start like this, from the first minute on," Ten Hag told beIN Sports. "You are without a chance [when you start so poorly]. Without belief on the pitch, no spirit and you are not brave on the ball you will get hammered by a good team like City, that's clear. It starts with that [a lack of belief].
"You have to be proactive from the start and we weren't, meaning we had to change things. Watching the first goal back, we won the ball in a good position on the field and we could have countered them, but we gave the ball away and the reaction after was like a pack of cards [falling]."
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