Nemanja Matic apologises to Man Utd fans after Leicester loss
By Sean Walsh
Nemanja Matic has urged everyone at Manchester United to 'stick together' following their 4-2 loss at Leicester City on Saturday, and apologised to fans for the dismal performance put in by the Red Devils.
United conceded three late goals as they fell to defeat at the King Power Stadium, while they again struggled to show any cohesion in possession and out of it.
But Matic, while apologetic, insisted Man Utd are still in the title race and will bounce back.
“We are sorry for them [the supporters],” Matic told the club's website. “They support us, especially away [and] they are top. They deserve much, much better than this.
“We will do our best to make them happy in the future. But we have 14 points – we are still in the title race. We don’t want to give up until the end.
“Of course, we are disappointed. Everyone is sad, everyone is with their head down at the moment. But when you play for Man Utd, if you don’t win the game of course you are disappointed, but we have to stick together.
“It’s time to stick together, to analyse this game as soon as possible, then to think about the next one, which is in three or four days against a very good side, Atalanta. It’s also going to be hard. We are very disappointed, but I think that, in the future, we will show we are much better than this.”
United took the lead early on through a wonder strike from Mason Greenwood, but Matic admitted the visitors struggled to compete from there on in and Leicester eventually deserved the three points.
“We started with that [Greenwood] goal, which was great,” he continued. “An amazing goal. But after that they controlled more of the game. They created a lot of chances. So we have to be honest; we have to say that they deserved to win.
“Was it frustrating to concede so soon after making it 2-2? Yeah, after one minute we conceded the third goal. Of course, [the] frustration was there. But sometimes you have to say when the opponent was better, and to see where we can improve, what we have to do better. Because I’m sure our team is much better than this.”
United's first chance to bounce back comes on Wednesday when they host Atalanta in the Champions League, before taking on bitter rivals Liverpool at the weekend.