Bruno Fernandes thinks that Manchester United and Manchester City had only one difference on Sunday.
City outplayed their local rivals in a 3-1 victory as Phil Foden delivered a brilliant performance with two goals at the Etihad Stadium. United took the lead before half-time with a spectacular Marcus Rashford strike, but they barely touched the ball in the second half and succumbed to City’s pressure.
Foden scored a stunning goal from long distance and then completed a smooth team move to put the hosts ahead.
Erling Haaland capitalized on a late error by Sofyan Amrabat and handed United their second Premier League loss in a row.
After the match, United’s captain Bruno Fernandes said he didn’t think United played poorly at all.
“Obviously we’re disappointed, I think we could have got something from the game,” he said.
“I think the effort from the team was there. Everyone tried really hard to get the result today, but it wasn’t possible.
“I said at half-time I felt that the team was doing everything we could to defend our box.
“We know that at moments we had to defend deep and be together and be compact and help each other. We did it but obviously I think today the difference was the individual quality from the players of City that made them win this game.”
The statistics at the end of the match showed that City had a clear advantage over United, not only in terms of individual talent, but also in terms of overall play.
City had 74 per cent of the ball and made 736 passes, while United only managed 240.
City also created 27 chances, hitting the target eight times, while United barely threatened with three shots. City’s expected goals (xG) score of 3.33 was much higher than United’s 0.25.
United excelled in defensive actions, but that was because they were under constant pressure from Ten Hag’s team, who spent most of the time in their box.