Man City 6-3 Man Utd: Gary Neville says United players 'bottled' the derby

Gary Neville has described Manchester United's players as "bottling" the Manchester derby in their 6-3 mauling.

Although two late goals by Anthony Martial added some respectability to the scoreline, the contest was effectively over as early as the 44th minute as City tore into a 4-0 lead.

"The story of the game is that in the first half Manchester United froze. There's no doubt they bottled it," said Neville.

"They have been really nervous. They have just not handled this derby at all.

"I expected so much more from United. There was no composure. They never settled. They were anxious and nervous on the ball."

United, playing their first league game in a month, had generated optimism heading into Sunday's game with defeats of Arsenal and Liverpool, but they were a distant second best at the Etihad as Phil Foden and goal machine Erling Haaland both scored hat-tricks.

"There has been promise in the last few weeks from United. But this is a reminder of how far behind they actually are the best team in the country," reflected Neville.

Former United captain Roy Keane was withering in his assessment of United's performance.

"There's nothing for United to take out from this game," said Keane. "The players should be embarrassed. You can't go into half-time 4-0 down in a derby game.

"It's hugely embarrassing, as brilliant as City were United were desperate, particularly in midfield. They were over-ran in midfield and defensively they were all over the shop.

"Again we look at leadership... there was nothing there from Man Utd.

"If you're giving players like De Bruyne time and space, you're looking for trouble. United got punished and rightly so. Top level sport is fantastic but it's brutal.

"Today, it was brutal for Manchester United as when you're not quite at it, you get hammered by your local rivals."

More to follow...

All the goals from the Manchester derby

What's next?

Man City host Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday at 8pm, before Man Utd travel to Omonia in the Europa League on Thursday at 5.45pm.

City then host Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday at 3pm, before United travel to Everton on Sunday at 7pm.