´Far from acceptable´ – Christian Eriksen´s brutal verdict as Man United suffer derby trouncing

Christian Eriksen described Manchester United’s derby drubbing as “a very bad day at the office” after hat-tricks from Erling Haaland and Phil Foden rocked the Red Devils.

A 6-3 defeat at the Etihad Stadium almost flattered United, with two late goals from Anthony Martial making the scoreline look as though they might at some point have had a foothold in the game.

Instead, it was a savaging for United, who conceded six goals in a Premier League fixture for only the fourth time. This was the second time it has happened against City, the first coming at Old Trafford, a 6-1 pasting in October 2011.

Eriksen was caught napping for Foden’s opener, as he let the City homegrown talent run away from him to tuck in Bernardo Silva’s cross.

He then lost Haaland at a corner for City’s second goal, although that always looked a dreadful mismatch.

Midfielder Eriksen, playing his first Manchester derby, was left deflated by the experience and said there would need to be changes for United.

Eriksen told Sky Sports: “I think it came very heavy. I think everyone feels it as a very bad day at the office.

“We started on the wrong foot. They had a lot of chances straight from kick-off, and I think we can only blame ourselves for not coming into the game at any point.

“We missed a bit of courage to play out from the back, and we let them be in their strength.”

Manager Erik ten Hag promised a full inquest into how United put up such a feeble show, and suggested there would be tough talking at the training ground on Monday.

Eriksen expects that, and he said: “I think the main focus after this game will be on ourselves. There’s a lot of things we need to change, a lot of things we need to do better.

“Today was far from acceptable for what we should be doing.”