The world’s most expensive player put in a muted performance as his side’s cross-town rivals ran out 2-1 winners at Old Trafford.
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“They just won at West Ham after a good comeback and they have scored in every game so far. That was a sending-off when I played”.
So I think we read the game really well.
But while Jose Mourinho typically found a way to blame the referee for United’s defeat, he also blasted his players for somewhat bottling it under the weight of expectation. Chris Smalling who was first-choice last term has been biding his time but perhaps it’s time for him take his place in the heart of Manchester United defence alongside Bailly to offer a greater physical threat to forwards.
Rashford was only a second-half substitute, but added pace and determination to United’s attack when he came on.
Having successfully guided City through the qualifying round for the Champions League, they make their group-stage bow on Tuesday night when they face Borussia Monchengladbach.
But Guardiola, twice a Champions League victor as coach of Barcelona, has quickly moved to dampen expectations.
You can’t afford to switch off for 42 minutes and win a big game in the Premier League. The kid Jesse – how many big matches?
“If you ask me whether we are ready to compete in Europe, we are not ready”.
“On the contrary, it’s time to analyse the aspects of our game that we need to improve, and carry on with hope and motivation”.
They were the only two positions in the team really up for debate following the first three games of the season.
Mata’s goal seven minutes from time edged a 1-0 win when United last met the Hornets in March, and it required a last-gasp victor to eke out a 2-1 victory in last season’s trip to Vicarage Road.
De Bruyne almost made it 3-1 to City when he burst through on goal in the second-half, but his shot cannoned off the inside of David De Gea’s near post and scurried across the goal-line to safety.
“We didn’t have a tactical problem, we had problems with poor performances, we lost the ball very, very easy”. In the first half, they were in control. Frustration is when you want to do that, when you want to change something and you are not able to.
“To summarise the game before moving on, I would say that City were better than us in the first half, but after Zlatan’s goal and our improvement in the second half, the game was pretty much alive”, he wrote.
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But the sight of the pair embracing each other both just before kick-off and at the final whistle was in keeping with their efforts at their press conferences on Friday to play down their personal rivalry. We have a lot of media (commitments), so I didn’t see him.
