Ten Hag pinpoints where Man Utd went wrong as derby defeat leaves him ‘disappointed and annoyed’

Erik ten Hag has highlighted where Manchester United went wrong as Manchester City claimed an emphatic 3-0 victory at Old Trafford.

Man Utd struggled to get to grips with their local rivals as Pep Guardiola’s side climbed to within two points off the top of the table.

Erling Haaland opened the scoring for the away side after converting from the penalty spot. Rasmus Hojlund was guilty of giving the penalty away and things only got worse for Man Utd in the second half.

The Norwegian forward added a second before then turning provider for Phil Foden to score the third goal of the game. Having had a total of 21 shots, Guardiola’s side were perhaps unlucky to have only scored three goals.

Man Utd have now only won three of their last seven league matches and they now sit eight points adrift of the top four with plenty of catching up to do.

While Man Utd found themselves a goal down at half time, Ten Hag was pleased with what he saw from his players in the first 45 minutes.

“The first half we played very good, we defended very well,” the Man Utd boss told BBC Sport. “We had good breaks, good opportunities but we could have taken more benefit. Then the penalty changes the game.

“We had to go offensive in the second half, we wanted to be more compact. We know they would press us, go high and go direct.”

Man City managed to open the game up in the second half and Ten Hag believes Haaland’s second goal is where the game started to get away from his side.

“The second goal. It came too early and then we’re making the wrong decisions. We spoke about not pressing the keepers when it was not possible.

“The first half I think things went the way we wanted. The second half, at 2-0, you have to go against them out of shape and when you don’t they will find the spare man. We have to be better organised.”

READ MORE: Ten Hag channels Benitez when putting Carragher in his place with Man Utd ‘facts’

Ten Hag brought on Mason Mount, Alejandro Garnacho, Anthony Martial, Sergio Reguilon and Antony in the second half, but they struggled to impact the game.

On the substitutions, Ten Hag added: “You try to get more offensive and you see we worked very hard and brought in new energy, but it was impossible at that point, 3-0 down with five minutes left to play.

“We are down, but we played a good game first half. We will be disappointed and annoyed, but tomorrow we will be there.”

Next up for Man Utd is a midweek clash with Newcastle in the Carabao Cup. They will then return to Premier League action next weekend in a must-win game against Fulham.

READ MORE: Neville slams ’embarrassing’ Man Utd star and goes in on Ten Hag’s side for ‘shambles’ performance