Victor Lindelof believes Manchester United should have been more aggressive in Sunday’s derby defeat at Manchester City.

The United defender feels United squandered an opportunity to get back into the game at the Etihad Stadium after cutting the the hosts’ lead to 2-1 just before the hour.

Instead, it was Premier League leaders City who moved up a gear to close out the game 3-1 and open up a 12-point lead over their neighbours.

United were left disappointed at the Etihad Stadium
United were left disappointed at the Etihad Stadium (Martin Rickett/PA)

Lindelof told MUTV: “After we scored after our first goal we could have been a bit more aggressive and tried a little bit more.

“After that goal they were quite nervous and it felt like we could have scored another, but they scored a third goal instead. We are very, very disappointed because we felt that we could have scored a second goal and got a better result.

“We had quite a lot of possession, but we didn’t really come in behind their defensive line into their last third of the pitch. We tried and it felt like we could’ve hurt them more.”

City took early command of the game with a 12th-minute opener from David Silva and Sergio Aguero doubled their advantage after the break. An Anthony Martial penalty gave United hope of repeating their stunning comeback victory in last season’s corresponding fixture, but Ilkay Gundogan ended the contest at the end of a 44-pass move four minutes from time.

Martial's penalty gave United hope
Martial’s penalty gave United hope (Martin Rickett/PA)

The result broke United’s momentum after a recent upturn in results. Jose Mourinho’s side had won their previous three games in all competitions, including an exhilarating away victory at Juventus, to ease some of the pressure that was building earlier in the season.

Due to the international break, they are now without a game until Crystal Palace visit Old Trafford on November 24.

Lindelof said: “Right now it’s (the break) come at the wrong time because I feel like the last couple of weeks we’ve really improved a lot and we’ve got some good results and we’ve been playing better.

“We’re sad of course for the loss, but we know that we can do some good things. I can just speak for myself, but I want to play more games now.”