Ilkay Gundogan has accused Bruno Fernandes of diving to win the free-kick which led to a goal and ultimately saw Manchester United defeat their local rivals.
The free-kick was given 30 minutes into the match at Old Trafford and resulted in Anthony Martial scoring United's first goal at Old Trafford.
Gundogan, according to The Guardian, was adamant that the free should not have been given and questioned whether the referee had actually seen the incident.
“There was frustration about the free-kick before the goal – it was not at all a foul. I just touched the ball and he [Fernandes] goes on the floor, shouting. I don’t even know if the referee saw it or just had a feeling that it was a foul.
“That was very disappointing for me, to be honest, because I was involved in the action and conceding the goal straight afterwards hurt very much. We tried hard after conceding the first one but it just wasn’t enough," Gundogan said.
'He has all of our support'
City's goalkeeper Ederson Santana de Moraes was at fault for the opening goal, letting Martial's shot beat him at the near post.
The Brazilian seemed to lose his confidence after that and almost conceded a second when he failed to control a backpass, almost gifting Martial a second.
While he managed to clear just the ball just in time, Ederson made another gaffe in the dying seconds of the game, throwing the ball directly to Scott McTominay who happily put the ball into the open goal from 40 yards out.
While the game was, in all likelihood, lost at that stage the Brazil international was sorely disappointed with his performance, according to his teammate.
“He's angry, disappointed and frustrated, but it’s always about how you [react]. He has all of our support and I’m sure he will do much better in the next games," Gundogan commented.
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