Few would have believed that Man Utd were capable of launching a comeback against Man City on Saturday, with Jose Mourinho’s side on the ropes at half-time.
Goals from Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan, coupled with countless missed opportunities with Raheem Sterling guilty of missing some glorious chances to make the result safe by half-time, City looked a level above their rivals.
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However, a Paul Pogba brace and a Chris Smalling strike turned the game on its head, denying the Premier League leaders the opportunity to celebrate winning the title against United as they needed a win.
In turn, it would have come as a major disappointment for Pep Guardiola as they’ll have to try again next weekend, while they have a Champions League quarter-final second leg to prepare for in midweek against Liverpool after also shipping three goals against them last week.
Given their rivalry over the years while in charge at Barcelona and Real Madrid, there has been a lot of hostility between Guardiola and Mourinho, particularly during their time in Spain.
In contrast, they seem to be getting on much better since they locked horns in Manchester, and Mourinho has proven that by revealing what he said to his rival after they were seen having a short conversation after the full-time whistle at the Etihad on Saturday evening.
“I congratulated Man City for the title. They are frustrated because they wanted to win the title today, because they deserve it,” he told Sky Sports when asked what he said to Guardiola, as per The Mirror.
“I congratulated them for the title. They deserve the title. They have more points than the others, and they gave no chance to the others. The number of points City win it by is going to reflect how much better they’ve been.”
Had his side lost the game and conceded the title, it’s debatable as to whether Mourinho would have been in such a friendly mood.
Nevertheless, it’s nice to hear him be so gracious, but he will undoubtedly hope that the win over City this weekend will give United the confidence and belief to launch a serious title bid next season having seemingly set down a marker of sort for what they can achieve.