Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has acknowledged that his team were not good enough to beat Manchester City despite producing a strong reaction after the recent embarrassment at Everton. The Red Devils started the game on the front foot and they managed to stay competent with the Citizens for the entirety of the first period.

However, they could not extend with a similar display during the backend of the game where Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sane ensured a comfortable win for the visitors at Old Trafford. Speaking after the game, Ole was pleased with the reaction after the recent 4-0 loss to Everton on their travels.

He added that the players’ commitment was not sufficient to match the talents from the opposition end and that paved the way for another league defeat, he said: “We got a reaction and, in the end, we were beaten by a better team. But we got a reaction from the fans, the players. We had a go, had efforts, didn’t hit the target too many times, but you can see the work rate and everything was there. It just wasn’t good enough.You can’t say that none of the players ran. Everyone was running. I don’t know the stats and all this, but you could see clearly there was an intent, there was a focus. Rashy [Marcus Rashford] had a terrific first half.”

With the loss, United find themselves three points behind the top four but they can make ground with a clash against Chelsea this weekend. The Blues are currently the team occupying the fourth position on the table and United stand the chance of going level on points with them, should they come up triumphs this weekend.

Still, they could find themselves behind the Blues on goal difference while Arsenal could yet spoil their quest. The Gunners are currently just the solitary point behind the Blues and they can potentially leapfrog the west London side with a victory, should the latter drop points at Old Trafford this weekend.