Manuel Pellegrini: 'We made Manchester United look better than they were'

Manuel Pellegrini has said that Manchester City's 4-2 defeat to Manchester United was more of a reflection on his side's deficiencies than their rivals' class.

Sergio Aguero fired City into a 1-0 lead after eight minutes gone at Old Trafford but goals from Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini made it 2-1 at the break.

Juan Mata, with a potential offside, added a third before Chris Smalling nodded home a fourth on 73 minutes, with Aguero grabbing a late equaliser to soften the blow.

The Red Devils have since courted praise for their performance, but the Chilean says that the display says more about his side's shortcomings.

"I don't think it was a problem of pace or the United team – it was our own mistakes on at least two goals," he told the club's official website.

"We had a lot chances at the start of the game to score another goal. It's not easy to play with more pace and trust when you're two goals down and they have more of the ball.

"We must continue working – we have six more games to try and to be as high in the table as we can."

City remain fourth in the Premier League table, five points clear of Southampton in fifth.