The Red Devils slipped to a 3-1 defeat against their neighbours at the Etihad Stadium to find themselves lodged eighth in the Premier League table
Manchester United need to accept that there is “an absolute gulf” between themselves and arch-rivals Manchester City, says Gary Neville, with a top-four battle now their greatest concern.
The Red Devils made the short trip to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday buoyed by a run of three successive victories, with battling qualities on display against Everton, Bournemouth and Juventus.
They were, however, to take on their arch-rivals without Paul Pogba available to them through injury and with Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku only handed places on the bench.