The Red Devils suffered their second consecutive league loss on Sunday. They had a handy one-goal lead at the break, but were completely dominated in the second half. Phil Foden starred for the Cityzens with a brace.

During the game, Ten Hag made the surprise decision to substitute Rashford and Evans, who were among the best performers. When asked about the substitutions, he said that they were forced by injury concerns.

He told Sky Sports : "I don't know, they had to come off, but I preferred to keep them [Rashford and Evans] on as the organisation was very good."

Rashford answered critics with a stellar goal in the eighth minute, but he could have easily bagged a hat-trick. He squandered two key chances.

With the loss, United have also lost further ground on the top four. They are now 11 points adrift with just 11 more games to play in the season.

The club face a huge mountain to climb after back-to-back losses and they need something of a miracle to qualify for the Champions League.

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