Sheffield United midfielder Mo Besic has said Sheffield United found themselves in an "unlucky situation" in the second half against Manchester City.
Sergio Aguero opened the scoring for City after referee Chris Kavanagh seemed to get in the way of John Fleck so he lost the ball and Kevin De Bruyne passed to Aguero who fired past Dean Henderson.
Aguero's goal opened the game up more, then De Bruyne sealed the points by doubling City's lead in the final ten minutes with a deflected strike past a stranded Henderson.
"The goal changed the game"
The game was nicely poised before the first goal with a tactically battle between Chris Wilder and Pep Guardiola ongoing.
The unfortunate first goal from Wilder's point of view then forced Sheffield United to attack more, therefore leaving more space for City's attackers to exploit and ultimately take all three points.
Before that the Blades and limited the Champions to very few chances.
Besic told the club's media:
"The situation with the ref was very unlucky and then it's 1-0 it's a different game, the rule probably says he has to touch the ball but for us it was unlucky for us. It's very difficult for the ref also because the VAR didn't say anything.
Guardiola then matched Sheffield United's formation at the start of the second half to eliminate the threat of the counter-attack which had caused the Champions problems in the first half, with Lys Mousset having a goal ruled out for offside.
"The offside was by millimetres," Besic told the clubs media. "We just saw it in the dressing room, it happened against Southampton, it happened against Tottenham, I mean it's the new thing and we need to respect it but it's just unlucky."
Blades remain upbeat
The defeat at the Etihad ended the South Yorkshire side's incredible run of not losing an away game in the Premier League this season, it also means that Sheffield United lost only two away games in the whole of 2019.
Despite not getting a result after a positive performance against Manchester City, Sheffield United currently sit in 8th place in the Premier League.
They travel up to Anfield next to take on the World Club Champions and Premier League leaders Liverpool. Mo Besic says the Blades are remaining upbeat following the result at the Etihad.
"We have a really great group," He told the clubs media. "We are all together, we all stick to the plan, you can see in our the season our great results and today we should of at minimum got a point but that's football, lets go again against Liverpool.
"We will not change our style of play, we will just go again"