Phil Foden is determined to make his critics eat their words and return to top form, having scored in Manchester City's routine derby victory over Manchester United.

Foden opened the scoring with an 18th-minute header as City earned a 3-0 win over their rivals at the Etihad Stadium, with Erling Haaland adding a second-half brace.

The England midfielder has now scored seven goals in Manchester derbies in the Premier League, with only Haaland, Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero (all eight) boasting more.

The win came at a crucial time for City after back-to-back defeats to Tottenham and Brighton, while Foden's goal was his first in the Premier League since January 25.

Foden was limited to 15 minutes of action in City's first three games of 2025-26, having also endured a frustrating 2024-25 campaign.

He registered 29 goal involvements as he won the Premier League's Player of the Season award in 2023-24 (19 goals, eight assists), but then only managed nine last season (seven goals, two assists).

After Sunday's game, Foden told Sky Sports: "There has been a lot of talk. It's impossible [not to see it].

"Everything I see at the moment is negative, but that's the world we live in. When you come off winning Player of the Season, the standards are higher. I understand that.

"It's about reading those comments and reacting, to come back to my level."

Haaland also spoke in support of his team-mate, saying: "We have to keep going, and we have to keep him 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."

Ahead of kick-off, City paid tribute to boxing legend and lifelong fan Ricky Hatton with a minute's applause, following his death at the age of 46.

Foden dedicated City's victory to Hatton and his family, saying: "I had extra motivation going into the game. It was for him and his family and all the people suffering right now.

"The lads made sure that, today, they gave everything, and you can see it wasn’t a pretty match at the end, but the way we won, it was all for him."

City are next in action against Napoli in the Champions League on Thursday, before they visit Arsenal for their next Premier League match three days later.