There was talk of a crisis looming for Guardiola if City had lost this game, but Foden and Haaland ended any such talk.
Home supporters rejoiced by doing the ‘Poznan’ dance inside the stadium after watching their side claim the bragging rights courtesy of City’s sixth win over United in their last nine league meetings.
The goal scorers seem to relish the prospect of coming up against United – both scored hat-tricks in a 6-3 victory here in October 2022 and they did the damage for the hosts once more.
Foden’s header past the reach of Bayindir in the first half was his seventh goal in a Manchester derby, with the Englishman having only netted more frequently in his career against Brighton with eight.
Haaland came into the fixture on the back of scoring an astonishing five goals for his country in the 11-1 thrashing of Moldova during the week but was being made to do his defensive duties for large periods early on.
When he got to show of his attacking talent, the two goals he scored were coolly finished to take his tally to five in just four league games this season and 90 in 101 Premier League matches.
He should have had more but hit the woodwork from a couple of yards out, while a flicked effort was collected by Bayindir.
United were falling apart and City were threatening to rack up another sizeable scoreline against their opponents – Tijjani Reijnders clipping wide after running through having also had a side-footed effort that was kept out by Bayindir in the first half.
Guardiola will be smiling tonight after a satisfactory afternoon, but the same cannot be said for counterpart Ruben Amorim, who will face serious scrutiny once again.