Youri Tielemans admits Manchester United were below par in controversial derby defeat

Youri Tielemans has described Manchester United’s performance in their 1-0 defeat by Manchester City as “sloppy”, admitting his side failed to make enough of their numerical advantage in Sunday’s derby at Old Trafford.

The result in the fourth round of the Premier League was overshadowed by a series of contentious refereeing decisions.

Manchester City were reduced to 10 men when Phil Foden was sent off in the 23rd minute, but Manchester United were unable to turn their long period of superiority into clear chances.

Erling Haaland scored the only goal of the match, although the decision to allow it to stand was also heavily disputed. Enzo Fernandez was clearly offside in the build-up before Haaland found the net. The error was later acknowledged and the goal should have been disallowed.

Manchester United were furious with the decision, but Tielemans accepted that his team had not done enough after gaining a numerical advantage.

“First of all, we should not have conceded the goal, but if it had not been given, it would have been a different game,” the Belgian told NBC Sports.

“Even so, I do not think we created enough chances to win the match. I think we were a little sloppy in possession and perhaps we did not make the right decisions with the final ball.”

Tielemans, as quoted by the English newspaper Metro, said the squad were left frustrated by a performance they believed was well below their capabilities.

“It is disappointing. Everyone is disappointed and frustrated because we know we can play much better,” he said.

“We want to do things properly, but today it did not happen in the way we wanted.”

The Manchester United midfielder also said his side failed to exploit the space available to them and made too many mistakes when attempting to build attacks.

“We did not use the spaces in the best way, we made mistakes with our passing and perhaps we rushed things a little,” he added.

“We did not play the right final pass in the final third to create enough chances to score.”

Despite the controversy surrounding the sending-off and Haaland’s goal, Manchester United’s inability to make their extra player count remained a key feature of the derby. Tielemans acknowledged that his side’s decision-making and execution in the final third prevented them from putting greater pressure on Manchester City.