Ten Hag says Man Utd played like coward against City 

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag tore into his Manchester United players, accusing them of lacking bravery and having a poor attitude as they suffered a humiliating derby defeat at the Etihad Stadium.

Erling Haaland and Phil Foden scored a hat-trick apiece to condemn United to a humbling loss in the highest-scoring Manchester derby in history.

Ten Hag revealed he did not bring Cristiano Ronaldo off the bench because he felt it would be disrespectful to the 37-year-old after all he has achieved in the game.

Ronaldo was not brought on to help his team-mates “out of respect” to him, according to Ten Hag

The United manager criticised the players in the away dressing room and said he understood why many of the away fans left well before the final whistle.

“The plan was to show bravery and confidence but we didn’t from the first minute,” Ten Hag said. “For the first goal we won the ball and could have created a great chance but instead we gave it easily away and then it was like a pack of cards.

“I criticised them, I told them [in the dressing room]. I made mistakes as well because I didn’t get the message through. With this lack of confidence, we cannot win games. I don’t think this attitude is Manchester United, we can be much more brave.

“We didn’t follow the rules and principles of the way we play and when you do that you get hammered. This performance was unacceptable. There are never excuses in top football, we have to bring results.”

Christian Eriksen admitted United had gone missing. “It was a very bad day at the office,” Eriksen said. “We started on the wrong foot; they had a lot of chances straight from kick-off and we can only blame ourselves. We lacked courage to play out from the back and allowed them to play at their strength.”

Ronaldo had to watch as Haaland recorded his third consecutive Premier League hat-trick at the Etihad Stadium.

The Portuguese looked glum as Ten Hag brought on five other players ahead of him, including Anthony Martial, who scored twice on his first game since recovering from an achilles injury. “I wouldn’t bring him on because out of respect for Cristiano, for his big career, and the other thing was the advantage I could bring on Anthony Martial,” Ten Hag said. “He needs the minutes.”

Haaland, a lifelong City fan, enjoyed his first derby. He has now scored as many Premier League hat-tricks as Ronaldo even though he has only played eight games in the English top flight. “We always want to attack and this is what I love about the team,” the Norwegian said.