Premier League: Manchester United's Erik Ten Hag explains Cristiano Ronaldo's decision after the defeat against Manchester City

A stunning first half from Manchester City resulted in a 4-0 lead at half-time, with goals from the unstoppable Erling Haaland and the always dangerous Phil Foden.

City's fourth goal was scored by Foden, while Haaland notched his 15th and the 16th of the season.

Haaland finished the match with a hat trick after heading Sergio Gomez's cross past David de Gea in the 64th minute.

The 22-year-old scored three straight hat tricks at home in the Premier League.

After Foden finished his hat trick, Anthony Martial scored twice for United as a consolation.

Ronaldo was irritated that he never got to come on, even though Antony scored a fantastic goal and scored twice after coming off the bench.

With Manchester United down four goals at half-time and many Red Devils fans leaving the stadium, ten Hag believed it was unfair to put the focus on a five-time Ballon d'Or winner.

What did Erik Ten Hag say about benching Cristiano Ronaldo?

After the match, when ten Hag was quizzed about Ronaldo, he told reporters that he did not play the Portuguese legend 'out of respect for his big career' and did not care to explain further.

'And the other thing was the advantage I could bring Martial, he needs the minutes but I don't want to point it out like that,' the Manchester United manager said. "It's quite simple, it's a lack of belief. When you don't believe on the pitch then you can't win games, that is unacceptable. We get undisciplined at following rules and you get hammered, that's happened today," Ten Hag said.

"For me, it was a surprise. We were not on the front foot, we were not brave on the ball, and there were spaces to play, but we were not brave enough.

"All the credit to City, but it's nothing to do with City; our performance was not good. It had to do with the belief as individuals and as a team."

"From the first minute, I felt it, and at half-time, we changed things, and we changed attitude. We saw a different Manchester United after half-time, scored goals, and created some more. We were braver on the ball, came in the opponent's half, and scored three goals."

"In this moment I can't think about the positives. We let our fans down, we let ourselves down and we're hugely disappointed."

The famed Portuguese forward Ronaldo was left on the bench for the duration of the entire match by Ten Hag, who made all five replacements but chose not to bring him on.

Ronaldo's response on the bench as he watched the Premier League champions dismantle his team said it all.

Ronaldo has started just one Premier League game since ten Hag's arrival in the summer, as the former Ajax manager opted to play the same lineup that defeated Arsenal 3-1 on September 1.

Man Utd has conceded four or more first-half goals in four Premier League games since the start of the 2020-21 season (vs Spurs in October 2020, Liverpool in October 2021, Brentford in August 2022, and Man City today); this is twice as often as any other team in this span.

United's following schedule includes two Europa League matches against Cypriot club Omonia, followed by a trip to Everton next Sunday.