Jose Mourinho admitted Manchester United had paid the price for “incredible mistakes” in their dismal 3-2 defeat at Brighton on Sunday.
Mourinho’s side were blown away on the south-coast as Brighton scored twice in two minutes thanks to goals from Glenn Murray and Shane Duffy midway through the first half.
Romelu Lukaku got one back, but Pascal Gross’s penalty capitalised on more poor United defending to send Brighton into the interval with a 3-1 lead.
United rarely looked like mounting a fightback and Paul Pogba’s penalty with virtually the last kick of the game came way too late.
A shell-shocked Mourinho conceded United’s players had only themselves to blame for their first defeat of the Premier League season.
“We were punished by the mistakes we made. For me that’s the story of the game. We made incredible mistakes in some crucial moments. Mistakes that killed us,” Mourinho said.
“Especially that third goal – we expected to come at 2-1 with positivity – then the third goal killed us off in the second half. Our second goal came too late.
“The week leading up was good and I expected the team collectively to be better. There are basic mistakes that makes almost an impossible mission to win the match.”
Many of Mourinho’s stars, including World Cup winner Pogba, new signing Fred and French forward Anthony Martial, were anonymous for long periods, but the boss refused to criticise individuals.
“I don’t want to go in that direction. I have to learn from my reality,” Mourinho said.
“Last season when I was critical of my team and was debating openly of the performances I was criticised for being too open about my players.
“I will be open when they are doing well. I cannot criticise the desire of my players.”
France midfielder Pogba took blame for his lethargic display, admitting he had been well below his best.
“I’m disappointed, with my performance and the team performance. We didn’t deserve to win,” Pogba said.
“I will always try. I know I lost a lot of balls which shouldn’t happen.
“I tried, I kept pushing, that’s my personality. I tried to help the team as much as possible. It didn’t happen today.”
Questioning United’s desire, Pogba said Brighton had wanted the points more.
“Maybe we didn’t have the attitude to break them, to kill them when we had to kill them and to go through the lines. That’s a lesson we have to keep in mind,” Pogba said.
“Today the truth is we didn’t play well enough. They had more hunger than us and the result is the right one for them.”
Aguero bags hat-trick
Sergio Aguero hit a hat-trick as Manchester City’s record-breaking forward inspired a 6-1 demolition of Huddersfield on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola’s champions opened their home campaign with a pre-match display of ticker tape and exploding fireworks and Aguero continued the pyrotechnics on the field.
Aguero, who turned 30 in the close-season, has now scored 14 times in his last eight Premier League games at City’s Etihad Stadium.
The Argentina star – City’s all-time leading scorer – joins former Liverpool forward Robbie Fowler on nine Premier League hat-tricks.
Only ex-Newcastle and Blackburn star Alan Shearer has scored more in the competition’s history with 11.
City’s rampant display underlined why they are such strong favourites to retain their title.
Such is City’s strength in depth, Guardiola was able to leave Kyle Walker, Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling on the bench.
And even though City learned this week that playmaker Kevin De Bruyne will be out for up to three months with a knee injury, the fact Guardiola was able to name substitutes which cost his club £230 million ($293 million) in transfer fees, was a sobering thought for their rivals.
After relentless City pressure, which featured Guardiola’s team having 80% possession, the champions finally took the lead on 25 minutes, the start of a three-goal blitz inside 10 minutes.
Ederson, Guardiola’s ball-playing goalkeeper, struck a magnificent pass over 60 yards, isolating Aguero against defender Christopher Schindler.
The Argentine skilfully held off his marker, twisting and turning before lobbing the ball over keeper Ben Hamer, who had advanced to the edge of his area, from the edge of the area.
Six minutes later, Benjamin Mendy attacked down the left, exchanging passes with Gabriel Jesus, who enjoyed a fortunate ricochet off a defender before drilling the ball home.
And the rout continued when Hamer fumbled a routine Mendy cross and Aguero pounced, tapping in from six yards.
Majestic City
David Silva had set the tone with a majestic opening half-hour, torturing the Huddersfield defence and allowing the City supporters to forget about the absence of De Bruyne.
But, incredibly, Huddersfield scored from their first attack of the game, three minutes before the interval.
Philip Billing’s long throw-in was helped on by Steve Mounie and Jon Gorenc Stankovic responded quickly, forcing the ball in from six yards.
If that gave Guardiola something to ponder at the interval, it required just three minutes of the second half for Silva to restore City’s three-goal cushion.
The former Spain international, who this week announced his retirement from his national team, curled a magnificent 25-yard left-foot free-kick into the top right-hand corner of the Huddersfield goal.
Silva, who became the third City player after Joe Hart and Richard Dunne to appear in 250 Premier League games for the club, made way for Mahrez after 64 minutes but there was no let-up for the visitors.
Aguero might have claimed his hat-trick earlier, with a 56th minute shot that struck the Huddersfield post, while Hamer also turned around his shot around a post after 70 minutes.
Five minutes later, Aguero had his third – and his 31st league game in which he has scored multiple goals.
The striker met yet another dangerous left-wing cross from Mendy, twisting acrobatically to shoot across his body and into the goal from six yards.
That allowed Guardiola to take off Aguero, replacing him with Leroy Sane who helped wrap up the scoring after 84 minutes with a run and shot which took a fortunate rebound off Terence Kongolo on its way into the net.