Jose Mourinho blames Manchester United players for derby defeat: "They didn't give me what I want"

JOSE MOURINHO

Jose Mourinho says that his players failed to perform to the expected levels during the Manchester derby.

Kevin De Bruyne and Kelechi Iheanacho struck to give Manchester City a two-goal lead in the first-half, leaving Mourinho seething with his side's performance.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic pounced on a Claudio Bravo goalkeeping error to reduce the deficit, but United could not claw their way back to claim a point.

Mourinho admitted that he feels let down by United's performance in the opening 45 minutes - but insists they could have left with a point.

“I think the first half they were much better," he told Sky Sports.

"We started to win back. We started the game with players below the normal level.

“We need to be sharp in the way we think, the way we play.

“We had a few players below that level and we were made to pay.

“The second half was completely different. We were in control, much more dangerous. We had chances to equalise."

Mourinho opted to give Jesse Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan their first starts of the Premier League season - but hauled both men off at half-time.

Asked if he picked the wrong team, he said: “Look, I have two or three players in the first half who if I know what was going to happen I would not play them. Sometimes players disappoint managers.

“They didn’t give me what I want. It’s their fault, it’s my fault."

Despite taking some of the blame, Mourinho claims that his side should have had two penalties - and Bravo should have seen red.

The goalkeeper stormed out of his box and lunged in on Wayne Rooney, only for Mark Clattenburg to wave away any appeal for a foul.

He also wanted a penalty when the ball unintentionally struck Nicolas Otamendi's hand in the closing stages.

“Outside the box [Bravo’s challenge] is a free-kick and a red card. It was a penalty," said Mourinho.

“The second one also is a penalty.”

Despite that, Mourinho insists he can take confidence from the second half performance.

Asked if there were any positives, he said: “The spirit of the group, the way we played in the second half.

“We are very disappointed with the result.”