sport news Rio Ferdinand admits Man United are MILES behind rivals Man City after their ... trends now 'The gulf in class is bigger than I thought': Rio Ferdinand admits Man United are MILES behind rivals Man City after their 6-3 derby thrashing as the former Red Devils defender jokes their calamitous display made him want to hide in a 'bunker' Rio Ferdinand admits he misjudged the 'gulf in class' between Manchester sides He thought Man United were closer to City, but the 6-3 derby proved otherwise The pundit tweeted that Erik ten Hag's side were 'utterly dismantled' by City By Samuel Draper For Mailonline Published: 17:04 BST, 2 October 2022 | Updated: 17:04 BST, 2 October 2022 Viewcomments Rio Ferdinand has admitted he was wrong about how far behind Manchester United are, reassessing his views on his former team after their 6-3 loss to Manchester City. Erling Haaland and Phil Foden both scored hat-tricks to secure the blue half of the city bragging rights after the derby at the Etihad Stadium. And pundit Ferdinand, 43, revealed his ongoing disappointment in Erik ten Hag's side throughout the first half of the game on Twitter, which ended 4-0 in favour of the Citizens. Rio Ferdinand has called for stricter punishments for those found guilty of any racist abuse Initially, less than 40 minutes into the match, Ferdinand tweeted: 'My phone is pinging right off...For all the wrong reasons ffs.', before quickly adding 'Bunker pending.....' His next message was to state: 'WhatsApp groups on fire... for all the wrong reasons...' He then admitted 'The gulf in class between @ManUtd & @ManCity is bigger than I thought before this game had kicked off....' Ferdinand took to Twitter to verbalise what a lot of Manchester United fans felt in the first half While the second half saw United get three goals, through a fine Antony goal and an Anthony Martial brace, they were ultimately undone by the combined brilliance of Haaland and Foden. Promoting his post-match live review, Ferdinand wrote: 'Absolutely dismantled... gulf between the 2 sides in Manchester! We showed some fight 2nd half or City took foot off the gas... BTW Haaland is treating these CB's in the Premier League with no respect'. Ferdinand said Erling Haaland had 'no respect' for centre-backs with his goalscoring record Norway's Haaland scored a hat-trick for his third league game in a row at the Etihad Stadium Some fans in the stadium saw enough in the opening exchanges to leave just before half-time, clearly sharing the same frustration that Ferdinand shared on Twitter. United will need to regroup before a Europa League visit to Omonia in Cyprus on Thursday, before travelling to Frank Lampard's Everton next Sunday. Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility