Pep Guardiola 'targeted Lisandro Martinez in the Manchester derby
Pep Guardiola ‘targeted Lisandro Martinez in the Manchester derby demolition – but NOT because of his 5ft 9in height – with the City boss using Erling Haaland to preoccupy the United defender and leave space for fellow hat-trick hero Phil Foden’
- Manchester City beat Manchester United 6-3 in the Manchester derby
- City ran away with the first half and went into the break with a four-goal lead
- Phil Foden opened the scoring early on and went on to net a hat-trick
- He was afforded space with defenders covering Erling Haaland
Pep Guardiola reportedly made targeting Lisandro Martinez a big part of his game-plan heading into the Manchester derby at the weekend, but not because of the reason most fans would expect.
City dominated their rivals at the Etihad, taking a 4-0 into half-time before ultimately winning 6-3.
Erling Haaland and Phil Foden both bagged hat-tricks and both were part of the plan to exploit Martinez.
Pep Guardiola reportedly made targeting Lisandro Martinez a big part of his game-plan
Guardiola hoped Martinez would be preoccupied with Erling Haaland and leave spaces
Going into the game Martinez’s height was a concern for United fans with the Argentine up against the towering Haaland.
However, sources told ESPN that this was not something that Guardiola was particularly focused on.
Instead the City boss hoped Martinez would be so preoccupied with marking Haaland that he would leave gaps for Foden to take advantage of in the left side of United’s back four.
City ran riot with both Foden and Haaland scoring three goals each at the Etihad
And that is exactly what happened with Foden and De Bruyne able to capitalise on gaps left by Martinez being drawn to Haaland.
Foden opened the scoring when he was found in space at the near post after just eight minutes.
He would later get his third when United’s defenders were drawn to Haaland, allowing the striker to play him clean through on goal.
Phil Foden broke the deadlock in the early stages and went on to score two more goals
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