Pep Guardiola, manager of Manchester City, opened up about the reasons his team lost away to Manchester United in the latest English Premier League match.
On 17 Jan 2026 GMT+7, Pep Guardiola, manager of the "Sky Blues" Manchester City, admitted that their opponents played better and deserved to win after their 0-2 away defeat to the "Red Devils" Manchester United in the Premier League's first Saturday match.
At Old Trafford, the home side Manchester United scored through Bryan Mbeumo in the 65th minute and Patrick Dorgu in the 76th minute.
Pep said, “The better team won. They played superior football. When one team is better, you have to accept it. They had energy that we didn’t, so congratulations to them.”
“Of course, the situation with Dalot (who fouled Dorgu and received a yellow card) could have been a red card, but I won’t use that as an excuse today.”
“United deserved to win, that’s the truth. We won’t improve if we blame the referee. I’m not looking for excuses.”
As a result of this defeat, Manchester City remain on 43 points in second place, six points behind leaders Arsenal, but having played one more match.