Phil Foden dedicated Manchester City’s 3-0 win over rivals Manchester United to boxer and lifelong City fan Ricky Hatton following his death earlier on Sunday.
Hatton, 46, was found dead at his Manchester home on Sunday, just hours before the game at the Etihad, with tributes pouring in for the ‘Hitman’ prior to kick-off.
Fans, players and staff honoured the former light-welterweight and welterweight world champion with a minute’s applause before City put in a dominant display, with Foden opening the scoring after 18 minutes and Erling Haaland netting twice in the second half.
Asked if Hatton’s death gave City more incentive to get the victory, the Manchester-born midfielder said: “100%, I had extra motivation going into the game, it was for him and his family and for the people suffering right now.
“The lads gave everything. It wasn’t a pretty match but it was all for him.”
Foden silences critics
The neat header from Jeremy Doku’s cross was Foden’s first goal of the season, with the England international coming in for criticism in the last 12 months for his under-par displays.
Foden admitted it has been hard to avoid the negativity surrounding his struggles but hopes his encouraging performance can be a springboard to return to his best after scoring his first Premier League goal since January.
He added: “There has been a lot of talk. It’s impossible [not to hear outside talk]. Everything has been quite negative but that’s the world that we live in when you are playing at the highest level.
“When you come off winning the player of the season award the standards are higher and I understand that.
“It’s about reading those comments, reacting as well as possible and getting back to my level.”
Haaland: City needed this
City bounced back from two straight defeats prior to the international break, with Haaland saying that this Manchester derby felt like it meant something extra to the fans.
The Norwegian said: “You could feel it from the fans, we needed this. You always want to win the derby but you could feel the extra today.
“We have to keep going and we have to keep him [Foden] going, we need him so much. This is the Phil we need.
“We are going to help him as much as we can to make him as good as he was.”
Guardiola: We must improve still
Manager Pep Guardiola insisted his side are determined to return to the top of English football after an poor season in 2024-25.
He told BBC Sport: “We are in a situation with a start we didn’t expect and of course our opponents are so strong.
“We want to be close and still fighting for titles. The spirit was great, our players have a lot of pride and they want to try to do better on a special day. We saw our fans so happy and that is our job, so, so privileged.
“We have many things to improve. We are not yet a team but step by step. The victory helps us a lot. In the games we have had a lot of momentum and others not enough.
“They [Manchester United] have fantastic players and I know here we struggle against them, we have more better results at Old Trafford.”