Man Utd vs Man City: Pep Guardiola ‘satisfied’ with players despite derby defeat

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)


Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on Sunday said he was “satisfied” with the performance of his players after losing the third Manchester Derby of the season at Old Trafford.

Manchester United rode on Anthony Martial and Scott McTominay’s goals on either side of the half to complete their first derby double over Manchester City in English Premier League in a decade.

It was the seventh league defeat of the campaign for Manchester’s blue team which means Liverpool are now just a maximum of two wins away from claiming a first league title in 30 years.

However, Guardiola insisted that his team played well and that they were not far away from the kind of football they played in the previous two seasons to become the champions.

“In general, we played very well. In general, I’m satisfied. We are not far away from our previous levels. In this type of game, little mistakes can make all the difference. We played good,” Guardiola was quoted as saying on the official website of Manchester City.

Both the scorers of the night, Martial and McTominay, took advantage of errors from City goalkeeper Ederson to keep United hot on the heels of Chelsea for a top-four finish, just three points behind the Blues.

“We conceded a goal and should have avoided it, but in the second half we played good as well. So congratulations to Manchester United. The quality of the opponent always counts. We played good. Yes, we could have played better if we won 5-0,” Guardiola said.