Erik ten Hag bizarrely insists Man Utd's 'plan went well' after derby defeat to City as he targets fifth place for potential Champions League spot

United took the lead after just eight minutes at the Etihad Stadium, with Marcus Rashford rifling an unstoppable 25-yard shot into the net off the crossbar. The visitors defended deep to protect their narrow advantage thereafter, and rode their luck when Erling Haaland produced one of the misses of the season, but City kept coming and were rewarded for their perseverance when Phil Foden levelled in the 56th minute. The England international added a second ten minutes from time and Haaland then made up for his earlier miss by finishing United off, with Ten Hag's team condemned to their 11th Premier League defeat of the season.

Ten Hag was in an upbeat mood after the final whistle, though, as he insisted that his tactics worked against the champions with United only coming off second best due to "small margins". The United boss told Sky Sports: "We had two players on the pitch which were not 100% [fit]. Jonny Evans and Marcus Rashford, but they gave everything like the whole team and we are disappointed with the score. Absolutely they fought, the togetherness and the performance was very good. On another day we could have won this - small margins. Especially Rashford he had some good opportunities to score another goal and Alejandro Garnacho at moments [had opportunities]. I think the plan went well, very small margins so all the credits is to Man City and how consistent they can play."

United are now 11 points adrift of fourth-place Aston Villa in the race for the final Champions League spot, and it seems unlikely that they will be able to close that distance in their remaining 11 games given how inconsistent they have been throughout the 2023-24 campaign. However, the two leagues that have the best UEFA coefficients will get an extra Champions League group stage berth next season. If England is one of them, fifth in the Premier League will qualify. United are still six points behind Tottenham, who currently occupy that spot, but Ten Hag is not giving up hope.

"This year on we are really progressing and you have to get some points back. Everyone can beat everyone and things can quickly turn around," he added. "Number five [fifth position in the league] can also be a position for Champions League so we have to fight for it!"

United must now regroup ahead of a must-win clash with Everton at Old Trafford on March 9. Ten Hag's men will be back in FA Cup action eight days later, as they chase the last remaining piece of silverware on offer to them, in a blockbuster quarter-final tie against arch-rivals Liverpool.