'You have to be perfect' - Sheffield United boss delivers verdict on Man City

Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom felt his side were unfortunate to lose to Manchester City.

City controlled the ball for large spells of the clash at Bramall Lane and were rewarded just after the hour mark. Having missed a penalty in the first half, Erling Haaland headed home a Jack Grealish cross to give the Blues the lead.

The Blades gave City a scare five minutes from time when substitute Jayden Bogle fired home but the Blues conjured up an immediate response through their Champions League final hero Rodri who fired in during the final stages of normal time to seal the three points.

After the final whistle a disappointed Heckingbottom was pleased with his team's efforts in South Yorkshire, even if they left empty handed. He told Sky Sports: "I would prefer the point instead of any pats on the back but you know you have to play a perfect game to beat City.

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"The two goals we know we need to do better with. We can't focus on that and forget about the other 99.5 per cent of the time where we got things perfect.

"Some moments went against us, a lot of hard work. Even though City had a lot of the ball we felt we had a degree of control over where that ball was and I think if we had kept the clean sheet, kept it 0-0 up to when we made our subs, which were always coming, I think we would have posed them much more of a threat.

"As it happened, they got in front and they are a tough team to play against when they are in front. But to get back to 1-1, it adds a little more salt into the wounds."

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