Diogo Dalot insists that the resilience Manchester United showed to come from behind and beat Manchester City came from Ruben Amorim and that ‘there’s no space’ at the club for anyone who is not willing to suffer.
‘The message was clear from the beginning [with Amorim] – if you want to succeed and thrive, you have to work hard and suffer,’ said Dalot.
‘If you want to succeed at this club, you have to suffer and if you’re ready to do that with us, we’re going to be a good team. If you’re not, there’s no space for you.’
Amorim made the ruthless decision to drop both Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho from the squad on Sunday, calling it a ‘simple selection’ and said post-match that ‘the team proved we can leave anyone out of the squad and manage to win if you play together.’
And Dalot hailed the character of United despite trailing until the 88th minute, before Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo scored to pull off a stunning comeback that left Pep Guardiola‘s City side with just one win in their last 11 games.
Diogo Dalot pictured (centre) celebrating after Manchester United won 2-1 at Manchester City
Dalot played the full 90 minute at the Etihad Stadium, where United scored two very late goals
‘The last couple of years we’ve had some crazy games like this, fighting until the end and I think that’s the DNA of this club,’ said Dalot.
‘We showed character and even when we were losing the game, our emotions were kept in control, which I think is progress from the last couple of years.
‘When we were trailing, we could have lost our heads a little bit. We showed a lot of character and I really liked the way we reacted, even after the first goal.
‘You could feel the energy coming inside between us and it was really good. And credit to the players who came on because I think they gave us the energy.’
Dalot described the win as a ‘really special’ moment for him personally and, like his compatriot Amorim, stressed that progress under the new manager will come with time.
Sunday’s game saw new United manager Ruben Amorim win his first ever Manchester derby
Amorim chose not to select Marcus Rashford (right) or Alejandro Garnacho (left) on Sunday
He added: ‘I’ve played here [at Man City] a couple of times since I’ve arrived. It was probably the first time that emotionally we were in control. We felt we could win the game at any moment.
‘It was the first time for me personally, that I felt capable of doing that, so that shows some progress.
‘I don’t want to give the cliche conversation all the time that “we need time”. Believe me, I am here for almost seven years, I’m with the fans on that. We need to win tomorrow and yesterday. But the reality is this is step by step.
‘With the new manager, we are progressing and. if you want to analyse, we are taking very good steps towards where we want to go, but it will take time.’
But Dalot said that it was ‘three points and no more than that’, even though it was United’s first win at City since 2021, when they won behind closed doors.
He concluded: ‘Obviously it’s the biggest [win] in terms of exposure [under Amorim].
‘It’s a derby and we always want to win but it’s three points and no more than that.
‘We still have to climb the table and it’s games like this that we need to keep winning.
‘It doesn’t matter if you win this and you don’t win the next game. Football is cruel like that but we need to keep going.’
United, who are 13th in the Premier League, visit Tottenham on Thursday in the EFL Cup, before welcoming Bournemouth to Old Trafford in the league on Sunday.