When the ball spun Phil Foden’s way in the 18th minute, he had to tense and contort his neck muscles. Maybe a little like a world-conquering light welterweight boxer bracing to take a punch to land a punch.
The Manchester City midfielder, making his first start of a season where injury niggles have spilt forth from the last, improvised impressively to divert the ball past Altay Bayindir in the Manchester United goal.
It prompted an emotional outpouring inside the Etihad Stadium. Stewards scrambled to repair some advertising hoardings that crumpled in the scramble near Foden’s knee slide. But these weren’t just the cathartic howls that typically accompany a homegrown star scoring in the derby.
The build-up to the 197th edition of this famous fixture was deeply subdued after the shocking news on the morning of the match that former two-weight boxing world champion Ricky Hatton had been found dead at his home. He was 46 years old.
The derby might be Manchester’s biggest sporting day, but Hatton is its biggest sporting star of the 21st century. During a thrilling run to glory in the 140-pound division, Hatton made the Manchester Arena his own, with sell-out after sell-out as he conquered all-comers before his night of nights against the brilliant Australian champion Kostya Tszyu.
Hatton boxed fearlessly and ferociously, a performance that made the white-hot temperature of derby day look positively tepid. Tszyu possessed a sledgehammer right hand, but he’d have needed an actual sledgehammer to shift Ricky that night. During the championship rounds, the veteran wilted and did not answer the bell for the final round. Ricky Hatton was on top of the world, an eternal hero — a status he wore humbly, even if he sometimes strained under its weight.
A more comfortable role for Hatton was that of a devout Manchester City fan. As Foden noted in a pre-match interview, he’d have been there today. He loved the Blues, hated the Reds, but counted players from both sides of the divide as firm friends. David Beckham was frequently at ringside for Hatton’s Las Vegas excursions and Wayne Rooney carried his belts into the ring for a June 2007 victory against Mexican warrior Jose Luis Castillo.
Rooney wasn’t the only special guest on those Vegas nights. Noel and Liam Gallagher walked him into the ring for a triumph over slick American Paulie Malignaggi in November 2008, a bout that turned out to be his final professional win. It felt like a Mancs-on-tour fever dream. Ricky loved Oasis too and was at their first reunion show in Cardiff in July, along with his son Campbell, who had a brief boxing career of his own and is also City mad.
Maybe it makes Hatton’s death jar that little bit more: the fact that it comes in this summer of Oasis’ reunion, this time of maximum Manchester where half of Los Angeles is somehow decked out in bucket hats. Those strands of collective identity are never easier to pluck than on derby day, and Ricky was a huge part of that. The boy next door, who everyone loved. He conquered the world and we adored him. He fell apart publicly a couple of times and we implored him to love himself as much as we did.
So derby day felt like the worst day for this tragedy to happen, but it was also the perfect time for this proud sporting city to wrap itself in a collective hug. Before calling each other cheats and all that other good stuff, obviously; a banter-free derby day would not have been very Ricky Hatton at all.
Prior to kickoff, the players gathered around the centre circle for a moment’s appreciation in Hatton’s honour. Pitchside announcer Danny Jackson was clearly choked as he spoke about a man he counted as a friend. Pep Guardiola also looked close to tears as every side of the ground serenaded their champion with “There’s only one Ricky Hatton.”
“I’ve been 10 years here. There’s been a lot of minutes’ silences, but I don’t remember one so, so intense like today. Thank you so much to the Man United fans, how they behaved. It was a special, special moment,” Guardiola said afterwards.
“There are no words that can contain the pain the family can feel right now for this loss. Of course, we are close [as a club]. I know how incredible Manchester City fans are and he could live the good and bad moments with them. I know with the fans he was close.
“The moment’s applause is a moment I will always remember. I could feel the applause of every person in the stadium, the gratitude for what he has done professionally and as a massive, massive City fan. We are so sad, we feel so sorry for the family.”
MORE: Man City vs. Man United score: Premier League result, updates, stats as Haaland, Foden secure derby win
Erling Haaland almost scored inside 30 seconds, the United defence giving the first glimpse of their tendency to switch off as if they’d just been hit by a Hatton left hook. His time would come in this 3-0 victory, but first, it was over to Foden, the playmaker from Stockport who said City would be inspired to win for the boxer from the same town. It had to be Foden, and it felt right that his seventh derby goal sent a wave of joy surging through the sadness.
“Last season, for injuries and other reasons, he could not be with us — this season neither, for knocks and injuries — and hopefully, step-by-step, he can get his best,” Guardiola said afterwards, back in his own comfort zone of praising his star pupil.
“I’m pretty sure a game like today against United… it’s a special game for him because he’s an incredible Manchester City supporter. There’s joy and happiness in his face when we see him every day lately. Now we are sure that he is going to have the best feeling.”
Back to it! That was for you Ricky 🩵🕊️ pic.twitter.com/4UP8oJX9m1
— Phil Foden (@PhilFoden) September 14, 2025
It why news such as Hatton’s passing can cut so deep. Those rare everyman heroes bring us joy; it’s their job, and sometimes we feel entitled to it. All the better if we can be reminded of their humanity, something Ricky had such a knack for.
Guardiola mentioning the “other reasons” for Foden’s struggles last term felt notable. At the end of last season, nursing a battered ankle after the FA Cup final, he spoke of mental struggles away from the field and things that were “more important than football”. No one spoke with more passion and urgency around such matters in Manchester’s sporting fraternity than Hatton. He raised awareness and plenty of money as he starkly detailed the depths of his mental-health battles.
Maybe that’s why Foden scoring felt perfect. Sporting superheroes who live our wildest dreams and let us share in them will still always be those small, vulnerable boys next door. In Manchester, we hold them close, pick them back up and tell them not to be daft because it’s going to be alright. And sometimes, with deep regret, we have to miss them so much.
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