Pep Guardiola reportedly made targeting Lisandro Martinez a big part of his game-plan heading into the Manchester derby at the weekend, but not because of the reason most fans would expect.
City dominated their rivals at the Etihad, taking a 4-0 into half-time before ultimately winning 6-3.
Erling Haaland and Phil Foden both bagged hat-tricks and both were part of the plan to exploit Martinez.
Goin into the game Martinez's height was a concern for United fans with the Argentine up against the towering Haaland.
However, sources told ESPN that this was dismissed as in issue by Guardiola.
Instead the City boss hoped Martinez would be so preoccupied with marking Haaland that he would leave gaps for Foden to take advantage of in the left side of United's back four.
And that is exactly what happened with Foden and De Bruyne able to exploit gaps left by Martinez being drawn to Haaland.
Foden opened the scoring when he was found in space at the near post after just eight minutes.
He would later get his third when United's defenders were drawn to Haaland, allowing the striker to play him clean through on goal.
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