Manchester City also loses the second derby of the season. The statisticians record a bitter day for coach Pep Guardiola.
As if losing the derby wasn’t bad enough, Pep Guardiola also had to have his mouth banned in the closing stages.
When the Catalan began a battle of words with United’s Bruno Fernandes on the sidelines, the latter ended it by putting his finger on his lip.
A clear gesture: you have no say here.
After losing 2-1 in the first leg, Manchester City also went down to defeat against their rivals on Sunday, but Guardiola’s 2-0 win meant that Anthony Martial and Scott McTomminay scored for United.
Historic low in Guardiola’s career
Coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can now count himself among the illustrious circle of those who have managed to beat a Guardiola side twice in one season. The other two: Antonio Conte (with Chelsea FC) and Nuno Esposito (with Wolverhampton Wanderers).
Which, statistically speaking, weighs even more heavily: Never before in his career has Guardiola suffered so many defeats in a single season. City have now accumulated seven of them.
Guardiola contradicts City-Star
“It was a bad game for us. Unacceptable,” city star Bernardo Silva criticized logically afterwards. “We have to watch the game again and listen to what Pep has to say. But a team like ours can’t lose that many games.”
His coach’s analysis was far more positive. “Unacceptable? I don’t agree with Bernardo,” said Guardiola, acknowledging that his team “played very well for over 90 minutes”.
In fact, as usual, City had more of the game, with United’s attacking efforts largely through counterattack. However, two mistakes by keeper Ederson and a lack of determination on the offensive sealed the hosts’ undeserved victory.
With one game less, City’s gap to Liverpool FC in first place is now 25 (!) points.
“I’m the kind of guy who accepts the situation we’re in,” Guardiola made clear, looking nebulously into the future.
“At the end of the season we’ll sit down together as a club and talk about what the situation is like. And then we’ll see.”