Manchester City winger Jesús Navas seemed unable to explain his side's dramatic collapse in Sunday's 4-2 Manchester derby loss, but maintained that they must focus on their upcoming games.
City took an early lead through Sergio Agüero after dominating the start of the match, but found themselves outplayed and 4-1 down before the Argentine grabbed a late consolation.
"We started well with the goal", Navas claimed. "We were having a good spell during the first minutes, but after [Ashley] Young's goal they controlled the game."
City are down to fourth in the Premier League table after Sunday's defeat, with rivals United now enjoying a four-point lead over them in third.
The current holders will look to avoid the hurdle of a qualifying play-off for next season's UEFA Champions League by finishing inside the top three, but overcoming the in-form United or Arsenal to do so looks an increasingly difficult ask.
Navas went on, "Now we have to move on and think about the next game. We started strongly but it wasn't our game, now we need to focus on the upcoming games. We have two home games now and we need to win six points, and I think we will be able to get closer to them. It's the Champions League so we have to fight until the end to get into the top four."
However, Navas did at least take the time out to pay tribute to top scorer Agüero, whose late strike was his 100th competitive goal in City colours.
"I'm very happy for him", Navas said. "He always gives us goals and works very hard for the team, so I wish all the best to him."