Manchester United are competing for a place in the top four, according to Jose Mourinho.
The Red Devils had a golden chance to reduce the gap with the table toppers but they were outplayed by a superior City at the Etihad Stadium. The absence of Paul Pogba was severely felt as United lacked the creativity in the middle of the pitch.
David Silva opened the scoring for City and Sergio Aguero added a second as City started to control the proceedings. Anthony Martial scored from the spot to offer a glimmer of hope for the travelling fans but Illkay Gundogan killed the game with a third in the latter half of the game.
United are now virtually out of the title race with 12 points separating them and the league leaders after 12 matches.
Mourinho said, “It’s 12 points. I think our team is improving a lot, even defensively conceding three goals today, it was a positive defensive performance.
“We knew that there is a difference in potential. Since the beginning of the season, we knew that our second position last season was a fantastic achievement for us, and this season we are going to fight for the top four.
“We are outside of that, we are having very difficult fixtures, away at Chelsea, away at Manchester City, almost impossibly difficult for us to win three matches in a row. Now we have to go for it and try to build on what we are doing.
“We are outside the top four. How can we speak about the title? To speak about the title you need to be in the top positions. So let’s fight to close the gap and jump into the top four, if one day we jump into the top four, we’ll see what the difference is.”
