Mourinho in a rage at ref Clattenburg

JOSE MOURINHO claimed that his Manchester United side were denied two clear penalties as he was beaten once more by archrival Pep Guardiola.

Mourinho, who has won just one of his last 10 head-to-heads against the Spaniard, criticised referee Mark Clattenburg for failing to spot a foul by City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo on Wayne Rooney and a handball by defender Nicolas Otamendi.

“They were two clear penalties,” said Mourinho, who experienced his first defeat as United boss.

“We are very disappointed with the result, but also very disappointed with two decisions of Mark.

“The criticism has more credibility if it doesn’t come from the losing manager, but it’s obvious that the Bravo challenge is a penalty.

“If Bravo is outside the box, I tell you for sure it’s a direct free-kick and a red card. In the box it has to be the same.

“It’s more difficult and it’s a big decision because the referees are human and they think twice before big decisions.

“Sometimes they don’t think twice and it’s a penalty and a red card and we have a big chance of 2-2 with a long time to go. Then it could have been a different story.

“The second penalty is hand-ball. I believe that some of you will say that’s not a penalty. I say it’s 100%. I think he has intention.

“He knows the cross is going into his back and he drops the elbow and he moves his hand behind. Clear penalty.

“We were also punished by our very bad first half and that’s football. Mistakes from the referee are also football.”

Mourinho confessed that with the benefit of hindsight he would have picked a different starting line-up.

He brought on Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera at half-time in place of Jesse Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan and his team’s performance improved markedly.

“You need to be sharp the way you think,” he said. “We had two or three players who weren’t up to their normal level and the team paid the price.

“If I knew what was going to happen, obviously I don’t play them.

“Sometimes players disappoint managers. Sometimes they produce great surprises.

“Is it their fault or mine? It’s my fault because I’m the manager and it’s always my fault because it’s my choice.

“The positives are the spirit I saw in the group and the mentality.’’