Eric ten Hag denied Manchester United’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester City showed a rift between the sides and claimed the visitors could have won had the referee before Phil Foden’s goal been different.
Marcus Rashford’s eighth-minute strike gave United the lead and although he spurned further chances, City dominated throughout. Foden’s goals in the 56th and 80th minutes put the hosts ahead before Erling Haaland’s third stoppage-time goal sealed victory for Guardiola’s side.
Ten Hague thought Kyle Walker fouled Rashford before Foden’s first goal. The Dutchman also pointed to Ederson’s challenge on Alejandro Garnacho as fair before the 23-year-old striker put City ahead.
Guardiola’s team had 27 shots, Manchester United only had 3 shots, and the ball possession rate was as high as 73.7%. Ten Witches was asked if the loss showed the gulf between them. “No, I don’t think so, absolutely not,” he said.
“You can see we had a lot of injury problems but we still had chances. The margin was really small. I wouldn’t say it was a tackle from Kyle Walker. They both ran off and Rashe confirmed to me that there was contact and I Saw it too – very soft. But when you’re running at full speed, just the slightest touch and you lose control.
“We could have scored the second goal in a controversial moment [but] We had a moment where the Manchester City goalkeeper behaved rashly and we conceded a goal after that attack.Not that big [a margin] When each of us is involved, we can be competitive.We performed well against them in the cup final and it was very close [losing 2-1, last May] But Manchester City, at this moment, are the best team in the world. Don’t forget this. “
City’s victory leaves them one point behind Liverpool on 63 points ahead of the champions’ trip to Anfield on Sunday. Arsenal have 58 points with a game in hand, while Aston Villa have 55 points.”For all three or four Premier League contenders, there are still a lot of points to fight for and there are different positions to fight for,” Guardiola said. “The first is the Champions League. [on Wednesday].Tomorrow is in my heart [Monday] Just Copenhagen, after Wednesday night I’ll think about the rest. “
Guardiola was asked about the comments of United’s new minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who said he wanted to pull City from “their dominance”. He said: “What I’m really proud of is that after everything that happened, we were still able to perform with that desire. The three or four actions that Phil came back to win the ball and recover the ball – he was a winning player. , that’s the mentality we still have.
“This surprises me because we always [as human beings] There is a downward trend. But we did it today and every game. This defines our team. “
Guardiola believes Foden is the best player in the Premier League at the moment. “He is his best now this season,” insisted the Catalan. “I always felt he was going to score goals, I always had that feeling in training, but now he is winning games. To be a world-class player you have to win games.
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“He’s always had an unbelievable work ethic, no matter what position he played, he was born to play football and now he’s winning games.”
Walker said: “Phil has been top-notch this season. It’s the standard he’s set for himself and the standard the manager has set for him. He loves to shoot – we call him a sniper. Both of his goals were Very well behaved.”
Johnny Evans and Rashford were forced off through injury but Hag hopes both will be available for Everton’s visit to Old Trafford on Saturday.
