Manchester City talisman Erling Haaland described his derby hat-trick as "amazing", while Phil Foden referred to his own treble as a "dream come true" after the pair dominated against Manchester United.
A contest that saw nine goals was never in doubt as Foden and Haaland scored three each in a 6-3 victory for City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
A strike from Antony and an Anthony Martial brace gave United some consolation in the second half, but it was a dominant win for Pep Guardiola's men.
Foden's second goal of the day was his 50th in all competitions for City, making him the youngest player to reach that figure under Guardiola at the age of 22 years and 127 days, surpassing Lionel Messi (22y 164d).
Speaking to Sky Sports after the win, Foden hailed the partnership he has already built with Haaland following the latter's move from Borussia Dortmund.
"Obviously it's a dream come true [to score a hat-trick], playing in the derby, being a City fan as well," the England international said.
"Me and Erling have built that connection now and we're finding each other and it's a pleasure to be a part of the team.
"I think our determination [showed] from kick-off, we were looking right at it and we finished our chances."
Haaland became the first player in Premier League history to score hat-tricks in three consecutive games, while also becoming the first City player to score a hat-trick against United since Francis Lee in December 1970, before Foden followed suit shortly after.
"Yeah, not bad," Haaland joked, also speaking to Sky Sports. "We scored six goals, what can you say? It's amazing to win at home, score six goals here and yeah, nuts.
"You can see it all the time, the passes we give each other, we always want to go forward, we always want to attack and this is what I love about the team, we always want to go and to attack and yeah, in the end it's amazing. There's nothing more to say."
When asked who was getting the match ball, Foden asked Haaland if they were having one each.
"Yes I think we have to," the Norwegian assured his team-mate. "One ball for the first half and one for the second half."
Daniel Farke praises Leeds’ ability to win without producing fireworks
Leeds boss Daniel Farke was pleased to see his side grind out a 1-0 victory over QPR in the Championship.
Crysencio Summerville coolly slotted in the only goal of the contest after nine minutes to move the Whites into the play-off places.
The hosts missed chances to kill the game off against a QPR side who had goalkeeper Asmir Begovic sent off in stoppage time, but Leeds held on as they returned to winning ways following Saturday’s defeat to Southampton.
“I am really happy and pleased,” Farke said.
“I told the lads I am proud because you can be on a great spell like we were on before Southampton and after one bad result, the next game is very difficult.
“The confidence is not there like it was before and to grind out a result it’s never champagne or football fireworks, it’s always hard work.
“To bring this tight lead over the line and be there again with a clean sheet, a win, is fantastic and in this type of game you have to be there to be able to celebrate.”
Leeds missed a handful of chances in the second period which could have put them out of sight and Farke admitted it started to get more nervy as the game wore on.
He added: “When you don’t score the second goal the opponent believes there is a chance.
“Because you don’t score a second goal it gets more nervous. We dominated every stat, but one scruffy situation in the second half saw a ball go through and thank God (goalkeeper) Illan (Meslier) was in the right position.”
QPR slipped to their sixth league defeat of the season and are without a win in five, but boss Gareth Ainsworth took heart from the performance.
“We’ve had a couple of collapses in my time so resilience wise I’m very proud of the boys,” he said.
“They gave everything, I asked for a bit more output, bit more of the committed work rate, I haven’t seen enough of that this season and we have that tonight. I think we will finish way higher than what people think.”
Ainsworth disagreed with the decision to send off Begovic, who saw red after fouling Patrick Bamford outside his area.
“He (Begovic) does not touch him (Bamford). I’ve had verification from both players that there’s no contact,” Ainsworth said.
“Patrick’s a great lad and he’s just jumped out the way and the referee has seen it as he thought he caught him. We may be able to get it overturned, I don’t know.”
Rico Lewis is one of best players I have ever coached – Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola hailed Rico Lewis as one of the best players he has ever coached after his starring role in Manchester City’s hard-fought win at RB Leipzig.
The 18-year-old produced a commanding display as the holders maintained the winning start to their Champions League defence with a 3-1 success at the Red Bull Arena on Wednesday.
Lewis, who made his first-team breakthrough as a right-back last season, had a hand in Phil Foden’s opening goal and proved City’s main driving force throughout.
City manager Guardiola, the former Barcelona boss whose past players have included Lionel Messi, said: “What a player! What a player!
“I’ve been a manager for 14, 15, years and lucky to train one of the best players in the world in Barcelona.
“To find a player like him playing in the pockets, how he has to move as a holding midfielder, moving in the spaces, he is one of the best I’ve ever trained by far.
“He’s a humble guy, doesn’t talk much. He didn’t play much this season but he is going to play a lot.”
Despite Lewis’ contributions, it took the introduction of substitutes Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku to secure a hard-fought victory.
City controlled the first half and led at the break through Foden’s 25th-minute strike but they were pegged back after the restart by Lois Openda.
The second half was a frustrating affair with Erling Haaland missing several chances and Foden hitting the bar but Alvarez made the breakthrough with a stunning effort on 84 minutes.
Doku wrapped up a second successive win in Group G in injury time.
After back-to-back defeats domestically, Guardiola was pleased to get back to winning ways.
He said: “Three or four days ago it was no progress because we lost in Wolves. It was important to break that.
“We played a fantastic game in all departments. We conceded two or three transitions in the second half but it’s normal. When a team is able to make a lot of passes early on, very nice things are going to happen in the game.
“The guys who came from the bench, the contribution they have done is the key point. Everyone helped each other. I am really satisfied. It was a tough game.”
Leipzig coach Marco Rose was pleased with the effort of his side but had no complaints about the result.
Rose said: “Manchester City deserved to win, even if it was 1-1 in the 83rd minute and we had hoped to hold on until the end.
“We did well after the break and got our equaliser. It was then an open game then but City put us under pressure at the death again. We are learning from the best.”
Tony Mowbray insists in-form Sunderland ‘have to keep going’
Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray has challenged his players to keep their impressive run going after a 2-0 win over Watford kept them fourth in the Championship.
Full-back Niall Huggins’ thunderous first goal of his professional career put the Black Cats on course for three points two minutes before half-time.
Abdoullah Ba’s back-post header in the 62nd minute effectively sealed the points before the Hornets had substitute Ryan Andrews sent off for a reckless tackle on Jack Clarke late on.
It was Sunderland’s sixth win in eight matches, leaving them six points off the top two ahead of Saturday’s meeting with neighbours Middlesbrough.
Mowbray said: “I’m delighted for Niall. He has had a tough time in the year or so I’ve been here with injury. Yet he’s had really high moments too.
“We did huff and puff for 45 minutes but we got the job done. I thought the centre-backs were amazing tonight. I’m pleased with them all, we have goals all over the pitch.
“We have to keep going. We kept a clean sheet and got three points.
“The moment normally comes from Jack Clarke or Patrick Roberts, and yet Niall comes up with an amazing goal.
“We preserved what we were doing. Sitting here now with 2-0 feels good. It was a dangerous game.
“I’m not sure Watford’s results warrant the talent they have. I am just pleased we have three points and move on to the next one.”
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