**Pep Guardiola has backed his Manchester City players to learn from their Manchester derby defeat.**
City were beaten 2-0 at Old Trafford after goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu.
And Guardiola accepted that his side were second best in the defeat.
“It’s not about they don’t run or they don’t try,” Guardiola said. “I know them. I know how they commit, all of them, but sometimes at 12.30 on a Saturday, one team is better than the other one. We have to accept it.
“We changed a lot. The keeper to the front, many, many players. And we have a lot of important absences right now.
“But the spirit has been top. Today is a day that we were not here but Sunderland was extraordinary, we’ve been in many games. The games against Brighton, Chelsea, the last game in Newcastle. But today no.”
Guardiola says Diogo Dalot could have been sent off for his first-half challenge on Jeremy Doku, for which the Portugal defender received a yellow card.
But he urged his players not to use that as an excuse.
“If the players have excuses for that result, we will be in trouble in the future,” he said. “We have to look at ourselves and today it’s simple. Man Utd were better than us and we have to accept it.
“In ten years, how many times have we been better? I lost here before but we were a little bit there. Today, we have not been.”