Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has played down their title chances despite moving to within a point of second-placed Manchester City following their derby victory on Saturday.
United fought back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Bruno Fernandes — controversially awarded after initially being ruled out for offside — and Marcus Rashford.
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Ten Hag’s team are six points behind leaders Arsenal, who play Tottenham on Sunday, but the Dutchman is not getting carried away with the title talk.
“The fans may dream but we’re not,” Ten Hag said. “We have to keep our feet on the ground and then face that our game has a lot to improve.”
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Despite beating Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions, Ten Hag was upset that City were allowed to be so dominant immediately after half-time, a spell of pressure which led to Jack Grealish scoring the opening goal just three minutes after coming on as a substitute.
“It can’t happen that after half-time we lose so much control of the game, for instance, and then getting down is unnecessary,” Ten Hag added.
“When we do the right things, when we follow the right rules, when we step up at the back in earlier moments we can control such moments and do the same as the first half. But it’s also top football, the small details have a big impact and we have to keep working on that and keep investing in that.”
