Ole Gunnar Solskjaer not looking for excuses after humbling derby defeat

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has given his assessment of Manchester United’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester City in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final.

This was the first time that they’ve ever lost a cup match to their neighbours and at one point it looked like they could be on the end of a thrashing as Pep Guardiola’s men took a three-goal lead before the forty-minute mark.

Bernardo Silva opened the scoring on 17 minutes with a classic Manchester derby goal, a stunning long-range strike that flew into the top corner, giving De Gea no chance.

The Portuguese was again involved as the visitors doubled their lead just after the half-hour mark, playing in a through-ball to Riyad Mahrez, who rounded the keeper and made no mistake with his finish.

At that point, City looked to have cranked into top gear and were through again five minutes later. Kevin De Bruyne sold Jones a dummy and struck at goal, De Gea saving before the ball ricocheted in off Andrea Pereira.

From there, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men looked all at sea defensively and looked desperate for the half-time whistle to give them an opportunity to regroup.

The visitors could have scored a fourth and a fifth before the midway point were it not for some errant finishing.

“From their first goal and especially the second we struggled to get to grips with them,” the Norwegian told Sky Sports.

“A good reaction second half, but first half until they scored it is was back and forth. We didn’t cope with the setback well enough.

“We didn’t deal with their system well enough, we know they can play that way. They played that way last season and beat Chelsea 5-0.

“First goal there is nothing we can do, second is sloppy and the third we just didn’t recover.”

Nemanja Matic replaced Jesse Lingard at the break for the hosts, who came out much-improved, eventually seeing that tell as Marcus Rashford slotted past Claudio Bravo in the 70th minute as United capitalised on some sloppy passing in midfield, Mason Greenwood latching onto a loose ball before playing the striker through.

“With Matic and his experience (coming on in the second half) he had more presence,” he added.

“It was more about wanting the ball and believing, passing the ball. Someone needed to take responsibility. We’ve shown before we have been down from a home tie and turned it around. PSG is the latest example and we have to believe that we can put on a performance.

“It was a decision late on who was fit, it was no excuse. We have the players we have. We put a team out believing we could get a result.”