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.