Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, tried to find a silver lining in his team’s Sunday Premier League loss to City.

Following his team’s 3-1 loss to Manchester City in Sunday’s derby at the Etihad, Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag made some odd remarks.

Marcus Rashford’s incredible goal early in the game gave Ten Hag’s team the lead, but the Red Devils ultimately fell short as their adversaries outplayed them as Phil Foden scored twice in the second half and Erling Haaland added a third late in the game.

Ten Hag told the BBC after the game, “I think it was a good performance overall, we went 1-0 up and we had our moments after it to score the second one.”

“Then you’re disappointed; we have to accept it, and there were still opportunities for us to win or at least draw a point.

“We defended very well and there were two defining moments when we nearly made a breakthrough and conceded the first goal.”

When questioned about the opening goal for City and if Kyle Walker may have fouled Marcus Rashford, Ten Hag responded, “I looked back and asked Rashford if there was contact, maybe soft but there was contact.”

The Dutch coach continued by praising his team’s tactical awareness and “sticking to the plan” in spite of Sunday’s loss.

“[We were] getting behind the defending line with the speed of [Alejandro] Garnacho, already after a couple of minutes there was some good breakthrough and then quickly after it was a good goal from Rashford,” he explained.

“We did a great job closing the box and the middle. We followed the strategy, and following that attack, we let up the goal due to the careless play of City’s custodian.”

With just 11 games left in the Premier League, United’s 11th loss of the season has dropped them 11 points behind sixth-place Aston Villa, who are currently in fourth place.