Manchester United lost to Manchester City 2-1 in a match in which they were clearly outplayed, which led Jose Mourinho to criticize his players and referee Mark Clattenburg.

“I didn’t change after 20 minutes because I didn’t want to destroy the players,” Mourinho said. “I didn’t want to make three changes at half-time, but if it was a sport with a free number of changes I would have done it after 20 minutes. I made a couple of decisions [with the starting lineup] because I thought the individual qualities of certain players would give me what I wanted. But I didn’t get it.

“But it is not just about them. We lost the ball very easily. Even our central defenders [Eric Bailly and Daley Blind], who were top-class until today, lost easy balls. What I told them at half-time was: ‘For some of you, it looks like you are trying to do what I told you not to do.’ I had told the players 20 times never to play a first-station ball – ‘never, because they [City] want to press, so never do that’ – and they did it 20 times.

“I think some of the boys felt the dimension of the game. Everything around the game – the derby, the big game, Man United, Man City, the focus, the attention. Some of the guys, they felt it. But it had nothing to do with inexperience or age because we have the kid [Marcus Rashford] in the second half and the kid looked like he was playing in the under-18s against Salford City. It’s about the individual and how everyone reacts to the dimension of the occasion in different ways. It’s difficult to predict.”

Mourinho thought Claudio Bravo should have been sent off.

“I know the rules of the game. It’s obvious it was a penalty and a red card for Bravo. If it was outside the box, a direct free-kick and a red card. Inside the box, it is more difficult [for a referee] because it’s a big decision and sometimes referees are like us, human, and think twice before big decisions.

“If he [Clattenburg] doesn’t think twice, it’s a penalty and a red card with a big possibility of 2-2 and a lot of time to go. We could have been talking about a completely different story. We were punished by our bad first half, my responsibility, and we were punished by Mark with his bad decisions in the second half.”