Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes admits the club’s derby defeat at Manchester City is ‘damage’ to the club’s hopes of a top-four finish.
Erik ten Hag’s side lost 3-1 at the Etihad to suffer back-to-back Premier League losses, with the Red Devils surrendering a half-time lead.
Marcus Rashford had scored a spectacular opener to raise hopes of an upset, but Phil Foden’s brilliant brace and a late Erling Haaland goal turned the game around for the champions.
It was the first time in 143 Premier League games that Manchester United had been beaten after leading at half-time.
“I think the commitment from the team was there,” Fernandes said to Sky Sports.
“We had our chances. Sometimes we played a little too deep but you know City do that to all the teams, you have to defend your box and we did that really well in the first half. From a chance that could be ours it ended up 1-1.
“There’s always something more you can do in the game, if it is City or someone else you can always do something better. City are a team that knows how to have the ball and pin teams back. We knew we had to defend our goal really well and I think we did, we should have had more spells with the ball than we did in the second half.”
United’s defeat was their 11th in the Premier League this season and leaves them sixth in the table, 11 points behind Aston Villa in the final guaranteed Champions League position.
On the club’s top-four hopes, Fernandes said: “Every time you don’t win a game it is a damage at this club. We know what this club demands and we want to win the games we are involved in. We didn’t get the three points today but there’s still a long way to go. We know it is not everything in our hands because other teams have to lose points but we have to do our job.”
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