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Manchester City's derby dominance over United comes with a tribute to the late Ricky Hatton

Welcome to Luis Miguel Echegaray’s brand new column for Yahoo Sports. Each week, LME brings his unique voice and perspective to the biggest stories in world soccer. Today, we focus on the Manchester derby as Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City came out victorious against Manchester United, who continue to struggle with any kind of rhythm under Ruben Amorim.

City delivers as confidence returns, whilst United continues to search for its identity

On Sunday, Manchester City — knowing full well that a victory was sorely needed after two straight defeats at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton — delivered a confident win against Manchester United in the derby. Phil Foden opened the scoring whilst Erling Haaland, brimming with confidence due to his performances in the international break, netted a brace to help the blue side of Manchester win 3-0 against Ruben Amorim’s team.

As for the Red Devils and most notably, their Portuguese manager? I don’t really know where he goes from here. Is it too early to discuss his departure? Is it too early to bring up? Or is it ignorant to not even contemplate it? All I know is that many Manchester United fans already have their own answers for these questions.

But back to City. Is this the type of win that gives Guardiola and their fans a belief that they can indeed compete against Liverpool and Arsenal for the title? I mean, the question itself might be disrespectful, given the club’s pedigree and recent résumé. But it is, after all, a new-look City, which needed to change and reinvent its roster after the last campaign so the points raised here are not dumbfounded. Can they win the title? It’s too early to tell. But at least after Sunday’s derby, Guardiola can once again feel at peace with his philosophy and the squad at his disposal. And when you have Haaland, anything is possible.

The atmosphere around the Etihad started with heavy emotion as City paid tribute to British boxing legend Ricky Hatton, who sadly died Sunday at the age of 46, found dead at his home by police in Greater Manchester. Born and raised in Manchester, Hatton became a world champion in super lightweight and welterweight classes and was a unique boxing personality and voice in the early 2000s.

He was a lifelong City fan and would proudly wear the club’s crest and kit colors during his ring walks. In 2008, Liam and Noel Gallagher carried his belts prior to his fight against Paulie Malignaggi in Las Vegas. During his best years, the entire British public tuned in to his fights. As a younger man, as I briefly returned to the UK in 2007, I remember working in my local pub and staying up with several customers until 5 or 6 a.m. for his battle against Floyd Mayweather Jr. Hatton, like Mayweather, was undefeated until that loss. In that particular bout, his walk to the ring was to City’s anthem “Blue Moon,” proudly representing the club he loved so much.

Manchester was Ricky and Ricky was Manchester.

Prior to the game, Pep Guardiola paid an ode to the boxer as a “true champion” and someone who was “part of the Man City family." Former defender and pundit Micah Richards, speaking to Sky Sports reminded everyone how he was above all else, “a British icon — a true Man City fan — but most importantly he was a man of the people. He was the nicest guy ever."

Aside from the the well deserved eulogies, Hatton’s passing also reminded everyone inside the stadium how Manchester is a city that creates iconic voices, hard-working, blue-collar folks who have a unique sense of who they are, how they see the world and how, without hesitancy or remorse, tell the world that they’re from Manchester. From Oasis to Hatton, The Stone Roses and Joy Division — their voice is clear, evident and uniquely Mancunian.

I am telling you all of this because this is also the passion that exists within the Manchester derby and City wanted to make sure that today — aside from a victory — was also in memory of Hatton. So it was somewhat poetic that the opening goal had to come from Stockport-born Phil Foden, who joined the club when he was 4 years old. His goal came in the 18th minute. It was made by Jeremy Doku, who was brilliant Sunday, pushing inside the right side, beating Luke Shaw and eventually finding Foden, entering the box and placing a great header past Altay Bayindir.

Foden needed that goal and perhaps, because of it, he can return to his best.

“This is the Phil we need,” said Haaland after the game. “City were waiting for this and we are going to help him as much as we can to make him as good as he was the season before last."

For the majority of the first half, Manchester City dominated the battles, carrying almost 70% of possession, breaking lines and recovering the ball in high-temp pressure, which is a trademark Pep Guardiola obsession. The problem last season was that without Rodri, these situations hardly happened but now that he’s back, a feeling of confidence within the midfield is renewed. It also helps that the wonderfully gifted Tijjani Reijnders is also now with him. United couldn’t cope with the middle of the park as Foden also joined to make sure loose balls were recovered.

What happened Sunday was also about the evolution of City because United actually ended up with more possession of the ball. It even had more passes and entered the final third more than the hosts but City were far more clinical with it.

And that’s where Haaland comes in, who was feeling so confident coming into this match. I mean, I would too if I had just scored five goals in one match only a few days ago. His antics for Norway against Moldova probably reminded him that when it comes to modern-day strikers, he is the only one that can truly show you how devastating a center forward can be. Both goals Sunday were classic Haaland and thanks to his brace, he now leads the league charts with five goals in four matches. His second also meant that it was his 50th goal in his 50th Premier League home game for the club. Only Alan Shearer needed fewer home appearances to earn half a century (47). Hatton’s nickname was “Hitman” and at times, that’s exactly what Haaland feels like. A fearless, unforgiving finisher who will punish you without hesitation.

Gianluigi Donnarumma, in his debut, was also very strong as he was called up when needed and provided a level of confidence in goal that will be fully appreciated by the City fanbase. A clean sheet is a nice way to introduce yourself to the club.

By the end of the game, the day belonged to Manchester City with a 3-0 result. As the Etihad blasted out Oasis’ “Cigarettes and Alcohol,” there was a party to be had and the best possible way to honor Hatton — with a City, energy-driven celebration and a sense that can give them reason to exhale after the two straight losses.

“You could feel it as well from the fans, we needed this,” said Haaland. “You always want to win the derby but you could feel it extra today. I'm so relieved, so happy we managed to do it altogether. We have to keep going. Today we're super happy."

I won’t spend too long with Manchester United, but after a summer where they spent more than £200 million and a full pre-season under Amorim, it’s extremely worrying to see that the identity remains disoriented. Amorim tinkers so much in both starting roles and formation that he must confuse himself, never mind his players. Benjamin Sesko, for example, was very quiet Sunday and again, questions will be asked about a player who aggressively sought after. Bryan Mbeumo works so hard to try and find any kind of spark but as a passionate chess player, he must feel so frustrated at the lack of tactical consistency. Sunday was another example as the Cameroon international tried everything, including a powerful attempt that was brilliantly denied by Donnarumma. Bruno Fernandes, United’s most important player, is better when he has a bigger role closer to the opponent’s goal and that just didn’t happen.

With four points from their first four matches, it is United’s worst start since 1992-93, which was the Premier League’s debut. In that season, however, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side overcame the slow start and ended up winning its first title in 26 years.