Youri Tielemans admits Man United frustration after derby defeat

Youri Tielemans has admitted Manchester United were left frustrated by their 1-0 defeat to Manchester City at Old Trafford, with the midfielder acknowledging that his side failed to produce their best performance.

Erling Haaland settled the Manchester derby with a far-post finish after a lengthy VAR review eventually confirmed the goal, leaving Michael Carrick’s side empty-handed on home soil.

Tielemans said United were disappointed with the result, particularly because they believe they are capable of producing a much better performance.

“It’s disappointing, everyone is disappointed and frustrated because we know we can play so much better,” the Begian told MUTV.

The defeat will increase the pressure on United to respond quickly, with little time to dwell on the setback.

Carrick’s team return to action on Wednesday when Brighton & Hove Albion travel to Old Trafford for a Carabao Cup fixture, giving United an immediate opportunity to put their derby disappointment behind them.

United failed to create enough

Tielemans pointed to United’s decision-making and passing as key areas that prevented them from causing City more problems in attack.

The Belgian midfielder felt his side struggled to exploit available space and were too hurried in possession, particularly when trying to build attacks and create openings in the final third.

“We want to do things well, but today it didn’t happen like we wanted.

“We didn’t use the right spaces, we made mistakes in our passes and maybe rushed it a bit too much. We didn’t make the right last pass in the final third to create enough chances to score.

United’s inability to turn possession into clear opportunities ultimately proved costly as City took advantage of their chance to claim victory.

Haaland’s finish at the far post provided the decisive moment in a closely contested derby, although the goal was subjected to a lengthy VAR check before being awarded.

Tielemans calls for quick response

Rather than allowing the defeat to affect United’s preparations for their next fixtures, Tielemans believes the squad must quickly regroup and learn from what went wrong.

With Brighton next on the schedule, the midfielder says analysing the performance and identifying areas for improvement must now be the priority.

“The process is try to get our heads together and react in the next games, that’s the only thing we can do. We can analyse this game and see what didn’t happen, and do better in the next one.”

United will therefore have little time to dwell on their derby setback as they turn their attention to the Carabao Cup.

A stronger attacking performance against Brighton would give Carrick’s side the chance to restore confidence while demonstrating that the defeat to City was a setback rather than the start of another difficult spell.