Phil Foden’s red card midway through the first half – for a reaction to Bruno Fernandes’ kick in his back – made things tough for Enzo Maresca’s Blues in the Italian’s first derby as boss.
However, Haaland’s tight finish on the hour sealed a memorable victory from a brilliantly performance behind enemy lines.
Although Manchester United spent more than 67 minutes with the numerical advantage, an outstanding defensive display meant they mustered just three shots on Gianluigi Donnarumma’s goal.
As well as the bragging rights in Manchester, the result means we extend our 100% record at the start of the Premier League to four games and keep pace with Arsenal at the top of the table.
The game in brief
City started the 199th Manchester derby well, showing composure on the ball in what was a febrile Old Trafford atmosphere.
Antoine Semenyo had our first big opening midway through the first half when he took the ball off Diogo Dalot’s toe, but he couldn’t find Erling Haaland in the box for a simple tap in.
The major flashpoint came just moments later when Phil Foden was sent off for reacting with two feet to the stomach of Bruno Fernandes after the United captain had kicked him while on the floor.
City dropped into a 4-4-1 shape and if anything, it appeared the red card freed us up to attack with more vigour.
Out of possession, Marc Guéhi and Rúben Dias were capable of snuffing out chances before United could test Donnarumma in the City goal.
However, the hosts came close to an opener just before the break when Marcus Rashford’s curled free-kick from 30 yards hit our goalkeeper’s right post.
Kobbie Mainoo did similar from open play in the first few minutes of the second half as the 11 men enjoyed their best period of the game up until that point.
We responded emphatically and our goal came on the hour mark when Erling Haaland expertly turned home Joško Gvardiol’s deflected cross.
After a near three-minute VAR check for offside, the goal was eventually awarded to send the travelling pocket of Blues into bedlam.
We came within inches of doubling that advantage shortly after but a diving Lammens got a fingertip on to Enzo Fernández’s guided effort from 20 yards.
The Blues weren’t done there and could easily have had more, with Haaland tickling a low Fernández free-kick crossed in behind United’s defence.
United became increasingly desperate as the final whistle neared but with three points to hold on to, City’s warriors gave every ounce of sweat and toil they could muster to see us over the line.
Even still, it required an inspired piece of goalkeeping from Donnarumma to divert Bryan Mbeumo’s right-footed drive to safety inside the final minute of the game.
Teams
CITY XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias (C), Guéhi, Gvardiol, Anderson, Fernández (O’Reilly 82), Foden, Cherki (Ndiaye 46), Semenyo, Haaland
Subs: Rulli, Kovačić, Reis, Bouaddi, Allan, Khusanov, Lewis
MANCHESTER UNITED XI: Lammens, Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Dorgu, Mainoo, Tielemans (Sesko 67), Mbeumo, Fernandes (C), Rashford (Zirkzee 83), Cunha
Subs: Darlow, Heaven, Mazraoui, Yoro, Andrey Santos, Mount, Lacey
Maresca reaction
The boss’ thoughts will follow shortly...
Star man
Marc Guéhi - A rock.
The England international has long had a fine reputation for his studious defending, as well as his ability on the ball and both were on display throughout this one.
With City reasonably having to surrender a lot of the ball due to being a man down, Guéhi and Rúben Dias had to watch every single United attack with a precise attention to detail.
They did so incredibly, restricting the hosts to just two shots on target.
On the ball, composure and bravery was required to keep possession and build from the back - it’s just what Guéhi specialises in.
Haaland reaction
“It hasn’t happened a lot in my lifetime to go down to 10 men so it’s kind of a new experience to win with 10 men. It’s amazing to be honest.
“We had to lay low, which is not ideal because we like to keep the ball and like to try and score goals.
“These times you have to go low and take your chances when possible and we managed to do it well.
“This shows personality and character to keep the ball, away at Old Trafford with 10 men. That is personality.”
Four-in-a-row
City have now won our first four Premier League games of the season for the seventh time.
That’s more than any other club, with Chelsea doing so on six occasions.
Haaland’s derby record
Only Francis Lee and Joe Hayes have scored more goals for City in Manchester derbies than Haaland, who netted in this fixture for the ninth time today.
That came in just his 11th appearance against our local rivals and he’s now tied on nine with another legend in Sergio Aguero.
No player in the Premier League era has scored more Manchester derby goals than Haaland, ahead of Aguero and Wayne Rooney on eight.
Meanwhile, only Mohamed Salah (13) and Alan Shearer (10) have scored more against United since the Premier League was introduced.
Earlier this week, Haaland went clear as the third highest scorer in our 132-year history and he’s now on 168 goals for the club, just nine fewer than second place Eric Brook.
What it means
City are one of only two sides with a maximum 12 points from our first four Premier League games.
We’re joint-top alongside defending champions Arsenal, four points clear of third place Hull.
It also marks our 65th victory in the Manchester derby from 199 meetings.
What’s next
We host Norwich City in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Thursday at 19:30 (UK).
Our next Premier League assignment sees us welcome Sunderland to the Etihad Stadium at 14:00 (UK) on Sunday 20 September.
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