“I told them at half-time that some of them were doing exactly what I told them not to do”, said Mourinho, who said he was been tempted to make substitutions as early as the 20th minute. “And same again today, we played really well in the first half, against a better level of player”, said Guardiola, whose City side have been drawn against his former club Barcelona, as well as Celtic and Borussia Monchengladbach in Group C of this season’s Champions League. I didn’t come here for that rivalry.
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“So I don’t open my mouth when Liverpool go and beat Arsenal, when City beat Man United here, when Man United beat Chelsea or Tottenham away, nobody opens their mouth with surprise because it’s a normal result”.
City top the table after their win, but Mourinho will be encouraged by his team’s second-half performance, especially after their incredibly slow start to the game.
United manager Jose Mourinho said referee Mark Clattenburg should have awarded penalties for both that incident and an alleged handball by City centre-back Nicolas Otamendi. “You want me to say what you know is true, but it has more credibility if the words come from you than the manager that lost the game”.
This was always going to be much more than the Manchester derby – this was as much about Mourinho against Guardiola on the Premier League stage, fighting for supremacy in Manchester. This isn’t a manager comfortable with his team defending. If you lose the ball they will score.
“Kevin had an fantastic, incredible game”, Guardiola said.
It had been a job well done and one very much in the image of the Spaniard’s best sides, but there was an elephant in the room to address. Instead it fell kindly for Zlatan Ibrahimovic inside the box, and the Swede made sure that City paid for this mix up by scoring what turned out to be United’s consolation goal. He was unbelievable with his feet and saves, and going to attack the ball. I like the keepers to attack the ball and after what happened, in the second half he continued to play and that’s a good thing about his personality. Mourinho realized this mistake by the half time and introduced Ander Herrera for more composure in the centre giving Pogba freedom to roam upfront.
Guardiola is pragmatic, but in his own way. Everything around the game: the derby, the big game, the focus, the attention. As Guardiola proceeded to a chorus of pantomime boos from the home crowd, Mourinho held out his hand and the pair embraced.
Guardiola said after the match: “I don’t know if he respects me, but I respect him a lot”. He has beat me and I have beat him. When we see each we speak and sometimes we don’t agree about our opinions.
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If the Manchester neighbours serve up any more clashes as fraught, feisty and compelling as this one, that might not be such an outlandish wish.
