Manchester United midfielder Youri Tielemans admitted the dressing room was full of frustration after a narrow 1-0 derby loss to 10-man Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday. The Belgian playmaker accepted that the side did not meet expectations after failing to make the most of their numerical advantage for more than 70 minutes.
Haaland goal decides the derby
The home side were unable to turn their extra man into an advantage after Phil Foden was shown a straight red card in the 23rd minute for a foul on Bruno Fernandes. In spite of chances involving Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo, both of whom hit the woodwork, United went behind on the hour through a debated Haaland tap-in at the back post. The winning goal was allowed to stand after a lengthy VAR review, with Enzo Fernandez judged not to have interfered with play while in an offside position.
Midfielder rues poor attacking execution
Speaking to MUTV after the final whistle, the Belgian midfielder did not hide his deep disappointment at his team's failure to take control in front of the home crowd.
Reflecting on the blunt display in the final third, the midfielder said: "It's disappointing, everyone is disappointed and frustrated because we know we can play so much better. We want to do things well, but today it didn't happen like we wanted."
He added: "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."
Tielemans calls for an immediate response
The damaging derby defeat leaves Michael Carrick's team down in 13th place in the Premier League table, with just one win and points dropped in three of their opening four league matches.
Looking ahead to addressing the squad's shortcomings, the 29-year-old midfielder said: "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."
Cup assignment comes before away trip
The Red Devils now need to recover quickly as they host Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford in a Carabao Cup third-round clash on Wednesday night. Carrick's side then travel to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham in the league before the international break temporarily pauses domestic football. This demanding run of fixtures gives the squad an important chance to regain their sharpness in attack and move back up the table.
