Premier League week 12
The Manchester derby turned in favor of the home team. The Citizens beat Man United 3-1 and are the best team in Northern England. In spite of a rebellion initiated by Lukaku and converted by Martial when United were down 2-0, the Red Devils had no answers most of the game against Man City’s firepower.
Guardiola out-coached Mourinho
Guardiola’s system work perfect and sent Mourinho to his doubts. The Spanish manager found a way to stop United’s attacks when trusted Aguero to create danger for his team. City regain the lead from Liverpool [2-0 vs. Fulham] on top of the table and send Manchester United 12 points back.
Man City coach, Guardiola on the big derby win:
“We are just two points clear – it is nothing. At the end three points versus a contender is the same as Southampton and will be against West Ham after international break
We were stable and scored the first goal, which was so good. We changed a little bit the way we should press and the goal from Sergio helped us a lot.
After that, we conceded and it is inevitable to think about last season – but we didn’t concede another chance and we defended so well.
It is most satisfying that at 2-1, we reacted well. Step by step, we regained our game again and at 3-1, it was easy.
Especially in the second half (the starts have been so strong). We spoke at half-time and said that we could play better then we did in the first half. We were much better.
The important thing is we are consistent. Our play most of the time good but I see a lot of things we can improve. City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal – they have numbers to be champions.”
Obviously, Man Utd are no longer in the tittle race after just a third of games played. Man Utd coach, Mourinho on a disappointing performance:
Not a bad performance at all, far from it. One thing is a bad performance, another is a performance with mistakes. Ours was a performance with mistakes. All of the three goals were mistakes and we were punished for that. We were in the game until the 80th minute or something, even the home supporters felt that, but the third mistake punished us with a result that I don’t think we deserve.
”There was a fantastic character from the team and a great effort by everybody. [Marouane] Fellaini shouldn’t play for 90 minutes because it was too much for him. He should be on the bench and come on later in the game. But he had to play because of Paul [Pogba]’s absence.
So it was not an easy week for us but I just told the players they’re playing much better than before; we are much stronger, we are much more compact. Now we have to not let the defeat disappoint us. Sad, yes, but not too disappointed. In two weeks’ time we play at home against Crystal Palace and, from that game, we have to try to get the points.”
