Erik ten Hag said that his Manchester United players didn’t follow their game plan when they lost 3-0 to Manchester City on Sunday. Erling Haaland scored from the penalty spot to put City ahead in the first half after Rasmus Hojlund fouled Rodri inside the area.

This put United behind. The Norwegian international doubled City’s lead nine minutes after halftime after a quick counterattack. With 10 minutes left, Phil Foden scored a goal from close range to cap off a great performance by Pep Guardiola’s team.

Before the break, United had a chance to tie the game when Marcus Rashford set up Scott McTominay for a shot on goal, but Ederson saved the Scotland international’s hard shot.

Ten Hag said that his team played “disciplined” in the first half, but he made it clear that he was upset with his attacking players for their part in Ederson’s long pass that beat the press and caught several United players off guard, which led to the second goal.”In the first half, we stuck to our game plan and showed how successful you can be,” Ten Hag told Sky Sports.

“But we made a mistake in the second half for the second goal.” We make a mistake when we go up to the goal, Ederson, at the wrong time and don’t get back quickly enough.

“Then they get into the game, they get power in the middle, they can change the play by sending players in the wrong places, and they score a great goal.”

“But it started with us making the wrong choice and not having our shape. Now they’ll beat you.”In the press conference after the game, Ten Hag was asked about how United played in the second half. He said, “We were losing, so I decided to bring in more offensive power at halftime.”

“Then we did something wrong that wasn’t in the plan: we went up to the goalkeeper at that point.”

“Then they played better than us, and it was 2-0 very quickly. It was a tough game, for sure, but don’t forget the first half—I think that’s how we should play against them.”During his chat with MUTV after the game, Ten Hag also talked about the mistake made by United’s attacking players.

“The plan was very disciplined in the first half, and then you see how well it works,” Ten Hag said.

“We messed up on the second goal; we did something wrong.” Going up to the goalkeeper at the wrong time was a bad choice.

“They can switch the play, our players are in the wrong places, and they score a great goal because we didn’t get back on track quickly.”

“That’s what killed us—we got out of shape—but the first half was great because we defended so well.”