Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has made the shocking admission that he didn't bring Cristiano Ronaldo on during the Manchester derby "out of respect".
The 37-year-old was an unused substitute during United's 6-3 defeat at the Etihad, with television cameras often cutting to the forward to get a shot of him looking increasingly frustrated as the Manchester City goals flew in. Hat-tricks from Erling Haaland and Phil Foden highlighted the gulf in quality between the two teams despite a late brace from Anthony Martial that may have spared some blushes.
After the game, Ten Hag was asked why he chose not to introduce five-time Ballon d'Or winner into proceedings. His response was eye-opening, as the United manager conceded he chose to keep Ronaldo on the bench "out of respect for his big career."
The Dutchman also discussed where he felt his side went wrong, given they were always second best to their 'noisy neighbours' over the course of the game. Ten Hag told reporters: "We were not defending on the front foot, we let them play. In possession we were not brave enough, technical skills mistakes. Decisions, mistakes. Then you get hammered."
Alongside Ronaldo, on the bench for the majority of the game was the Portuguese's former Real Madrid teammate Casemiro, who was only brought on with 30 minutes left to play in place of Scott McTominay, who endured a torrid afternoon up against the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva.
Some eyebrows were raised when news broke of Casemiro's absence from the starting line-up, but Ten Hag has since explained that decision.
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"On the day we signed him, we started to win," the United boss said of the Brazilian. "The team was doing well. It is not against Casemiro, it is for Scott McTominay. I am sure he will be important for us, in the short term he will find himself in the team, but it has to come in a natural way."
It was a disastrous afternoon for United, with a number of questionable defensive decisions leading to their eventual demise. One of those was Christian Eriksen marking hat-trick hero Haaland from the corner that saw the striker bag his first.
"Christian Eriksen marking Haaland? I don't understand," Ten Hag admitted after the game. "It was Rapha Varane that was out. Maybe you saw it, I saw it. We missed one. An important one because of injury."
Grilled on whether it was a pre-match plan to have Eriksen trying to stop Haaland from set-pieces, Ten Hag was firm as he responded: "Of course not."
The result marked the abrupt end of United's impressive four-game winning run in the Premier League.
