Manchester City Now 11 Points Clear
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said his side’s title hopes are “probably over” after referee Michael Oliver failed to award them a penalty in their 2-1 loss to “lucky” Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s team stretched their lead at the top of the table to 11 points and became the first team to win 14 successive English top-flight games in a single season.
City took the lead their vast superiority deserved when man-of-the-match David Silva hooked home from close range after confusion at a corner on 42 minutes, only for United to be handed a lifeline in first-half stoppage time when poor defending from Nicolas Otamendi and Fabian Delph allowed Marcus Rashford to steal in for a composed finish.
Otamendi made amends nine minutes after the break when Romelu Lukaku – who had a nightmare game – lashed at a clearance in the area and the City defender pounced on the rebound to score.
But Mourinho’s post-match focus centred on an incident in the 79th minute where Ander Herrera went down in the box under a challenge from Otamendi and resulted in Oliver booking the home midfielder for diving.
“My first reaction is I feel sorry for referee Michael Oliver because he had a very good match but unfortunately he made an important mistake,” Mourinho told BBC Match of the Day.
“The result was made with a big penalty not given. That would have been 2-2 with 20 minutes to go.
“Michael was unlucky because it was a clear penalty.”
Asked whether the title race was over, Mourinho replied: “Probably, yes. Manchester City are a very good team and they are protected by the luck, and the gods of football are behind them.”
Nicolas Otamendi volleyed in the winner for Manchester City to take them 11 points clear of rivals Manchester United
Before Sunday’s game, Mourinho had suggested that City’s players go down too easily – something Guardiola dismissed, along with the Portuguese’s assertion that United should have had a penalty.
“Last season it was the same – we won here and it was the referee. Today as well,” Guardiola said.
“Yesterday he spoke about the referee. We are an honest team. We had 75% ball possession, which means we wanted to play. We came here and did that.
“It’s not true that my players go down easily. That is not an argument I believe.”
Sunday’s result also ended United’s 40-match unbeaten run at home – which stretched back to their win here in September 2016.
City, who have dropped only two points in their first 16 games, had opportunities to extend their lead but it was keeper Ederson who made the decisive late intervention with a miraculous double late save from the luckless Lukaku and substitute Juan Mata.
