Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke out in defence of Claudio Bravo after his new goalkeeper’s error-strewn debut in Saturday’s 2-1 win at Manchester United.
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So understandably the City fans were more than a little bit excited at getting the result – especially as it came in their neighbour’s back yard.
“I made a couple of decisions where I thought the individual qualities of certain players would give me what I know I want, and I didn’t get it”, Mourinho said.
Mourinho’s decision to start Mkhitaryan and Lingard in place of Anthony Martial and Juan Mata was a surprise and it backfired as City took a deserved 15th-minute lead.
Fortunately for Bravo, City held on to their slender advantage, but the former Barcelona man had plenty of other nervous moments, gifting the ball to Jesse Lingard shortly before half-time and making a desperate challenge on Rooney after a heavy touch in the second half. I think some of the boys felt the dimension of the game, everything around it, the derby, the focus, the attention.
“What I told them at halftime was that for some of you, it looked like you are trying to do what I told you not to do”, Mourinho said. United came out the better side in the second half mainly thanks to Marcus Rashford’s introduction, but they couldn’t find a victor for all of their chances. “I had told them never to play a first-station ball [a short pass between midfield and defence] – it’s where City want to press – but they did it 20 times”.
“The second one is a handball by Nicolas Otamendi – some pundits will say no because it’s the back of the arm but he knows”.
The striker, who joined from Liverpool in the summer, headed the opener before Wilfried Zaha struck his first Premier League goal in 10 months to win it for the Eagles.
If Mourinho was frustrated, Guardiola could afford to be more indulgent.
“We need to be sharp the way we think, the way we play”. After playing a direct part in Ibrahimovic’s goal by fumbling a Wayne Rooney free kick, debutant Bravo’s performance went into meltdown and there was considerable fortune that United did not capitalise on his total loss of composure.
Yet the initial breakthrough came from an unGuardiola-like route one approach in the 15th minute, Aleksandar Kolarov’s hoofed ball being met by a flicked header from Iheanacho which allowed the excellent De Bruyne to nip in past a leaden-footed Daley Blind and fire home.
After two minutes the Swedish star incredibly missed the 2-2 goal, hitting the ball really quickly after another big mistake from City defense: a wonderful chance to change the game in two minutes wasted.
Speaking at his postmatch news conference, Mourinho added: “Referees are like us and are human”. “In the future I’m going to beat him; in the future he’s going to beat me”.
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It will be a sweet weekend for him and his players, while Mourinho and United will have to reproach themselves for false-start in the most important game of the season so far.
