Pep Guardiola hits back at Jose Mourinho after Manchester derby victory

Pep Guardiola hit back at Jose Mourinho after the Manchester United boss accused his City side of diving and being ‘lucky’ during the Manchester derby.

Man City clinched a record-breaking 14th successive Premier League victory at Old Trafford on Sunday as goals from David Silva and Nicolas Otamendi secured the three points.

Mourinho suggested City’s players are prone to diving prior to the clash and was fuming that Ander Herrera was denied a ‘clear penalty’ after a challenge from Otamendi during the defeat.

But asked about Mourinho’s comments, Guardiola told Sky Sports: ‘Last season it was the same – we won here and it was the referee. Today as well.

‘Yesterday he spoke about the referee. We are an honest team. We had 75% ball possession, which means we wanted to play. We came here and did that.’

Defending his team after being accused of diving, Guardiola added: ‘It’s not true that my players go down easily. That is not an argument I believe.’

City broke the deadlock on 43 minutes through Silva but Marcus Rashford scored an equaliser shortly before half-time to ensure the score remained level at the break.

Ten minutes after the interval, Otamendi found space inside the box and fired home the winner as City moved 11 points clear in the Premier League table.

‘The personality to play here is what I want. We can play this way in England. People said we couldn’t play the way we did in Barcelona in England but it is possible and we did it,’ Guardiola said.

‘I knew that last season. Always I believed we could do it. Everyone can play how they want, that’s why football is so beautiful. I’m happy to go to Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford and to beat them in this way.

‘Football is incredible. We spoke about how to play United but never set-pieces offensively, and then we score two. Football is unpredictable.

‘This win means a lot in the way we played for our confidence but in three days we go to Swansea in the winter time. We are going to face a lot of difficulties. In December it’s impossible to be champions but it’s good for us.’

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