Tielemans admits United were 'sloppy' as 10-man City stun Old Trafford to win derby

Erling Haaland’s 60th-minute strike gave Manchester City a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the Premier League derby at Old Trafford on Sunday, despite City playing with 10 men for the majority of the match after Phil Foden’s red card in the 23rd minute. The result leaves United with just four points from their opening four league games.

Haaland’s goal initially appeared to be ruled out for offside, but a lengthy VAR review confirmed he was in an onside position and that Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez — deemed to be offside — had not played the ball. United had 30 minutes to respond but could muster only three shots on target for the entire game.

Midfielder Youri Tielemans was candid in his assessment of United’s performance. “First of all, we shouldn’t have conceded the goal, but if it doesn’t stand, it’s a different game,” he said. “I don’t think we created enough chances to win the game anyway. I thought we were a bit sloppy on the ball and maybe didn’t make the right decisions on the final ball.”

Tielemans also stressed the need for an immediate reaction, acknowledging that United have yet to win back-to-back league matches this season. “Calm response, yeah, but we’ve got to react anyway. We feel like we’ve not won two games in a row yet, so we need a bit of momentum and consistency in our teams and our results.”

Manager Michael Carrick echoed that sentiment in his post-match press conference, insisting the squad cannot afford to dwell on the setback. “We’ve got two games coming up this week, and it’s part of it of moving on quickly. We haven’t got as many points as we would have liked at this point, for sure. But we don’t need a break or a restart. We’ve just got to move on and get winning again.”

United’s four points have come from fixtures against Hull City, Ipswich Town, Everton, and now City. They face Brighton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday before returning to Premier League action against Fulham on Sunday ahead of the September international break.