Pep Guardiola believes Manchester United's equalising goal in Saturday's derby should not have stood but urged his Manchester City players to not dwell on the defeat and instead focus on the upcoming match against Tottenham.
City's Premier League title defence suffered a setback at Old Trafford with a 2-1 defeat to rivals United, Jack Grealish's second-half opener cancelled out by Bruno Fernandes' contentious equaliser before Marcus Rashford tapped in the winner for United.
The result hands Arsenal an opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the table to eight points when they face North London rivals Tottenham on Sunday, while United have moved to within one point of City.
The big talking point from the match was Fernandes' goal, which was initially ruled out for offside on Rashford, but VAR deemed the England forward was not interfering with play and the decision was overturned and the goal awarded.
"Rashford is offside. Bruno Fernandes is not offside," Guardiola said. "The question is intervening or not intervening in the action. When one player shoots and [another] player is in front of the keeper and does not touch the ball, it's disallowed all the time.
"The decision is of course the referee's and VAR. We follow the action, we don't make an offside [appeal], we follow the action and after the action, it's either Ederson intervenes or not."
Despite his disappointment, Guardiola said it was vital his team shifted their focus to Thursday's game against Tottenham.
“I said to the players – don’t waste energy thinking what happened. Focus on Spurs," he said. “I would not say we win or lose for this action [the first goal]. Of course, it was involved – an important one.
Man United v Man City player ratings
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MANCHESTER UNITED RATINGS: David De Gea - 7, City had more possession but fewer chances in the first half – just one shot to United’s four. A couple of poor balls out and couldn’t do much for City’s goal. Getty -
Tyrell Malacia - 9, His best United game. Made a fine run on a 32nd minute counter attack but the pass from Fernandes didn’t come to him. Excellent cutting out a 54th minute De Bruyne ball. Targeted in the last derby, a 3-6 defeat. Much better in this one, though a 75th minute cross was a poor one. PA -
Luke Shaw - 9, Surprise starter and busy as City put a lot of balls into the United box. Took the ball off Bernardo to break up a 54th minute City attack. Roared on after a 94th minute interception which stopped a City attack. And again in the 95th minute. AFP -
Raphael Varane - 9, He’s brilliant. Followed Haaland closely and bested him throughout. Rapid when clearing up loose ball, snuffing attacks out. Went towards J Stand at the end and bellowed in celebration with the fans. This is why he joined United. Magnificent performance. Reuters -
Aaron Wan-Bissaka - 8, Big test for the man – and he was up to it. Grew stronger in the second half, battled, won tackles and even had a shot on goal. AFP -
Fred - 8, Man-marked De Bruyne. Two super tackles on him after 18, to huge cheers. Energy to the end. Like a rat up a drainpipe. Magnificent. EPA -
Casemiro - 8, Headed corners away. Blocked Haaland’s shot on 24. Couldn’t get close enough to De Bruyne as he set up City’s opener. Ball towards Rashford set up the equaliser – though Fernandes converted it. Helped United be so good out of possession. PA -
Christian Eriksen - 6, Played in the No 10 role and put Fernandes in for an early shot. Combined well with Rashford in a 37th minute attack. Booked for a second foul on Grealish and brought off soon after. PA -
Bruno Fernandes - 8, Played on the right, defended well, pressed well. Manager’s man of the match. Shot wide after 11 following an Eriksen assist. Poor ball towards Malacia on 32 as United countered. Lofted a clever ball forward. Then he equalised – what a (controversial) moment. Getty -
Anthony Martial - 5, Surprise start given his manager said he was injured. Effective when coming back early in the game and linking up on the attacks, but he didn’t press as he should – and did against City in previous derbies. Off at half time. Getty -
Marcus Rashford - 8, Linked with those around him. Broke on 33 and shot but it was easily cleared. Burned Rodri off on 37 but ran out of space as Ederson came out and made a top save. Pulled up soon after and it looked like he’d have to leave the field at half time. He didn’t and stayed on to get the 82nd minute winner, the ninth consecutive game he’s scored in. AFP -
SUBS: Antony - 5, On for Martial at half time. Didn’t do much. Reuters -
Alejandro Garnacho - 7, On for Eriksen after 71. Energetic and ran down left. Tried to cross, the ball hit Ake’s face and came back to him. He turned, then hit a left footed cross towards Rashford for the winner. EPA -
Harry Maguire N/A. Lisandro Martinez N/A. Scott McTominay N/A. Reuters -
MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson - 5, Looked shaky at times, notably rushing out and being beaten to the ball by Rashford, but did well to smother the United forward later in the first half. Little he could have done about the goals. PA -
Kyle Walker - 6, Was solid for large periods, notably stepping out to stop Fernandes’ pass to Malacia, and got forward well with one ambitious shot fizzing agonisingly wide before half time. Was beaten by Fernandes for the equaliser. PA -
Manuel Akanji - 6, Cleared Rashford’s shot off the line then stopped Martial getting off a convincing header. Did superbly to stop Malacia’s ball through, then halted Garnacho’s run but was involved as Fernandes equalised then completely lost Rashford as United went ahead. AFP -
Nathan Ake - 6, Wasn’t afraid to step out and make an impact, whether that was on the ball or winning it back. However, he was turned by Garnacho before the substitute set up the winner. AP -
Joao Cancelo - 7, Showed early intent with a burst forward while also defending well, notably reaching Martial’s pass ahead of Rashford and heading away Shaw’s cross. AFP -
Kevin De Bruyne - 8, Was frustrated by Fred early on but his influence grew as the game progressed with the Belgian’s delightful dink setting up Grealish’s opener. Couldn’t quite unlock United’s defence as City chased the equaliser. EPA -
Rodrigo - 7, Put in a lot of strong defensive work, winning the ball back when United threatened to break forward and doing well to keep Rashford under pressure when he was bearing down on goal. PA -
Bernardo Silva - 5, Dropped deep to get the ball in the first half but played a poor pass that resulted in a chance for Fernandes. Couldn’t quite play Haaland through, then tried to head the ball back when there was the chance to go for goal. AFP -
Riyad Mahrez - 6, Was frustrated by the amount of times Malacia fouled him in the first half and had a poor pass cut out in a promising position. Played a lovely flick to help a De Bruyne burst forward. Getty -
Erling Haaland - 5, Tried to come deep to get on the ball and saw his one real shot blocked by Casemiro. Made a strong defensive header from a United corner but was unable to get a shot off before Casemiro tackled him. AFP -
Phil Foden - 4, Was very quiet and was caught offside a few times. Couldn’t get a convincing header on De Bruyne’s cross and played a poor pass in a promising position. Hooked after 57 minutes. EPA -
SUB: Jack Grealish (Foden, 57’) - 8, Made an instant impact as he headed home De Bruyne’s cross, then continued to get on the ball. His late cross required a superb defensive header from Shaw. AFP
“But wasting energy thinking about what happened in the past, you are in the next game. The best thing to do is analyse the things we have done good, what we can improve and then focus on Spurs. Now it is done. It is gone.”
Defender Manuel Akanji echoed his manager's thoughts and called on City to bounce back against Spurs.
"We played really well. The second half was better than the first half," the Switzerland international said. "We did some changes and we dominated then we deservedly scored the first goal.
"After 1-1, we've got to be clear in the head, and defend for a couple of minutes and just calm down and then attack again. We didn't do it well today. I hope we can improve on that in the next game."
