Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has admitted he believes Diogo Dalot should have been sent off in his side's 2-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The Red Devils ran out winners in front of their own fans, with Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu scoring in the second half.
In the early stages of the contest, however, there was controversy.
Dalot avoided being dismissed for a knee-high challenge on Jeremy Doku, with the Portugal international instead merely receiving a yellow card instead.
Guardiola, speaking to Sky Sports, has admitted that he feels Dalot's actions were worthy of him receiving his marching orders.
Yet the City boss also refused to blame that incident for his side's failure to win, with Michael Carrick's team ultimately superior on the day.
"The better team won. They had something we didn't have. We weren't at the level required to win this game," he admitted.
There was controversy in the Manchester derby on Saturday, with Diogo Dalot receiving a yellow card - instead of a red - following a knee-high challenge on Jeremy Doku | X"In many departments, we weren't there. They were better. They had an energy we didn't have.
"Was it a red card? Yes. But it would be poor for me as a manager to blame the red card.
"Would I change it? Yes. Would it have changed the game? who knows. If the players have that as an excuse, then we have a big problem."
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Five things to know about Man City boss Pep Guardiola | PA/GETTYGuardiola also took a sly dig at United, calling them a 'transitional team', while remaining coy on his side's pursuit of Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi.
"It doesn't matter the manager, Man Utd are always a transitional team," he said.
"The long balls are not the reason why we lost the game today.
"I don’t know officially from the club [about Guehi]. Apparently, it is close but I have not spoken [to club officials]."
Meanwhile, United coach Carrick had nothing but positive things to say about his players after enjoying a dream start to life in the dugout.
"It's as close as we could have hoped for coming into the game. Change is not easy. Then to perform off the back of it," he said.
Man Utd produced a performance to remember in their 2-0 derby win over Man City | GETTY"I had a real sense in the last few days how desperate the players were to give that feeling of success to the fans.
"If anything I was concerned that feeling would go over the top because they are so keen to do well. But they managed the emotional side of the game unbelievably well.
"That made me proud, to watch my team have that feeling."
He added: "We wanted to play well and put things into the game that we thought we help that.
"We certainly wanted to be good defensively as a team. We felt we had a threat in transition. When we did have the ball I thought we looked dangerous.
"I couldn't ask for any more. The boys took everything on tactically and dealt with it emotionally."