Kevin De Bruyne says Manchester City were punished for failing to take their chances in their defeat to Manchester United.
Kevin De Bruyne has given his assessment of his side’s performance after their 21-game unbeaten run came to an end at the hands of Manchester United.
The Red Devils ran out winners in the second league Manchester derby of the season, thanks to goals from Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw.
Pep Guardiola’s side dominated possession but failed to take their chances and were also frustrated by United’s defending.
It was uncharacteristic of City to struggle for goals, and De Bruyne says they were lacking sharpness in the final third.
“The mentality was still the same from us but we just couldn’t get the ball in,” the Belgian said as per the club’s website.
“Then we played pretty good but we didn’t score and that made a difference and made a mistake with the pressing for the second goal.”
Despite the early blow, De Bruyne feels he and his teammates could still have got themselves back into the game.
“It’s not the best to be behind one minute into the game but then you still have the rest of the 90 minutes.
“I don’t think we started well. We knew it would be hard from then and we played into their hands.
“We needed 15 minutes to settle. I think we then played well but we didn’t score.”
Asides from losing their winning streak, De Bruyne was also disappointed to lose to their fierce rivals.
“Obviously it’s not nice to lose the derby but it happens. Its never nice to lose but sometimes it can be necessary,” he added.
“We overcame some bad spells today but we have to learn from this as a group.”
“We move on, Wednesday is a new game and we will focus on that. We have confidence that in the next game we will put the [missed] chances in.”
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