David Moyes admitted Manchester United were second best and that he had let his players know they were not “bang at it” following yesterday’s derby rout .

United have managed only seven points from their opening five games, their worst start since the 2004-05 campaign when they had six. That season they finished third, 18 points behind Chelsea.

Asked if he had given the players the first “hairdryer” of his tenure, Moyes replied: “I don’t know, I think it’s just what I’d have done if I’d . . . I’ve been here [the Etihad] many times with Everton and don’t think I’ve suffered a defeat like this with Everton in my time.

“So I just told the players the way I would have told players at any other club if I don’t think they’re doing it . . . they know when they’re bang at it and when they’re not.”

Moyes said he expected a reaction immediately afterwards in the changing room, on the training ground and in the next match: Liverpool’s visit to Old Trafford for Wednesday evening’s Capital One Cup tie. “[I expect it from] all of them and I’ve made them aware of that,” he said.

Response demanded
"The way they have been brought up, the way they have been bred with the manager previously. They react, that's what they do, and that's what we'll do here. We'll make sure we react. Every manager has bad results. I'm no different."

United were 4-0 behind after five minutes of the second half with two goals from Sergio Aguero and strikes by Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri. Wayne Rooney’s late free-kick proved only a consolation.

“I think we were second to things in the first half especially, we seemed to be a yard behind it and we just never really got to the pitch of the game right from the off which was disappointing,” said Moyes. “We had set out to do that. We had a good result in midweek to build on [a 4-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League] and come into this game but . . . Manchester City were the better team, they got control in the early part and we found it difficult to contain them. I thought as the first half edged on we started to get back into the game a little bit more but unfortunately lost the second goal right on half-time. I’m disappointed we didn’t perform because there was no reason.”

Nemanja Vidic described the reverse as horrible. “From the first minute City tried to be aggressive and had more possession in the first 20 or 30 minutes,” said the captain.

'Horrible to lose a derby'
"We didn't really get in the game from the first minute . . . It's horrible to lose the derby. It's always horrible. It's worse when you lose in this way, 4-0 down. We were never close to winning the game."

United’s Robin van Persie had been ruled out with a groin problem and Moyes indicated that the injury was not serious.

“I don’t think it’s that bad,” he said. “We felt he was going to make it but he just felt something in his groin. He’d actually done some training in the last couple of days but he just felt it when he made any sharp movements and didn’t want to aggravate it so we took that decision.”

City manager Manuel Pellegrini described his side’s win as a telling psychological blow. “Winning against Manchester United is always big and the way we did it is important,” he said.

City captain Vincent Kompany said the side's motivation was superior. "Maybe the game meant a little bit more to us . . . We were looking forward to this fixture. We need to win these kind of games. There was no reason why we should fear the opposition."
Guardian Service