Pep Guardiola was reluctant to blame Man City’s defeat to Man Utd in the Manchester Derby on the lack of a red card for Diogo Dalot on Saturday.Â
Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu both scored in the second half at Old Trafford to hand the Red Devils a deserved win over their hated rivals.
But the hosts were fortunate to not be a man down just ten minutes into the game when Diogo Dalot caught Jeremy Doku on the shin with his studs. The full-back received a yellow card, which was confirmed by VAR as “the contact (was) deemed to be glancing and not with excessive force”.
Pep Guardiola reacts to Diogo Dalot decision following Man Utd defeat
Asked if Dalot should have received a red card, Guardiola told Sky Sports: “You could say that, you could say that red card, different game. Many, many situations happen.
“It is easy for me to come here and say it should be a red card. It is not about that, we will not grow up if that is the argument to win or lose a game. To do you have to do better and we didn’t today.”
Guardiola surprisingly took Erling Haaland off as part of a triple change that also saw Bernardo Silva and Doku subbed off when City were chasing a goal late on. Asked if the decision was to save legs, he answered: “Part of that yes. We had new energy. At the end it is a question of how many moments you have.”
City have now failed to win any of their last four Premier League outings, leaving them six points off leaders Arsenal with an extra game played.
“It is about how we grow up as a team,” the Catalan tactician added. “I have the feeling we have done very good things so far. To be better you may have to take a step back. The season is a long way and you have to continue to analyse.”
Read – Pep Guardiola admits ‘better team won’ Manchester Derby
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