After losing 2-1 at Old Trafford, United slipped to 4/1, well behind City’s even odds.
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“I think really some of the boys, they felt the dimension of the game”.
But he was subbed at half-time, after Mourinho watched the visiting Blues race into a 2-0 lead on their way to three points. “I thought about many other options – but I thought in the beginning to show to my players that I came to win the game”.
The introduction of Herrera and Rashford to add pace and precision changed the outlook but we were still unable to break down Pep Guardiola’s side, which left plenty of frustrated fans inside Old Trafford because had we not put out such a odd team in the first half we could really have changed the outlook of the game. A No. 10 in the first half, he then moved out wide in the 4-3-3 after half-time, but the presence of a more dynamic player might help to bring the best out of Pogba and allow him more freedom to express himself.
“I am very disappointed with two decisions from Mark [Clattenburg], because it’s a penalty and a red card for Bravo”, Mourinho said.
If Mourinho was frustrated, Guardiola could afford to be more indulgent. Guardiola regards the ball-playing Chilean goalkeeper as a flawless fit for his philosophy, but he was badly at fault for Ibrahimovic’s goal as he spilled an innocuous cross from Wayne Rooney.
“The second half was completely different”.
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.
Wayne Rooney’s role for United is pivotal in this debate.
He said: “We have to take some good things”.
Afterwards, the Special One said: We started the game with players below the normal level.
Iheanacho repaid his manager’s faith in him by providing an assist for City’s opening goal scored by Kevin de Bruyne before scoring the victor.
Together, the managers’ postmatch news conferences lasted half an hour and the amount of football dissected – rather than personality assessment – was a welcome shift from the previous focus on those in charge.
Once you strip away questions on scores, kick-off times and what channel their games are on, it was Pogba’s transfer saga that led to the most prominent question among Google’s United Kingdom users between August 1 and September 7. As Guardiola proceeded to a chorus of pantomime boos from the home crowd, Mourinho held out his hand and the pair embraced.
“It’s quite similar – the atmosphere is quite similar”, Guardiola added. I say 100 per cent penalty because Otamendi tries to stop the cross in the face of the goal, but the cross comes behind him.
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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.
