Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag, has thanked Manchester City and Pep Guardiola for teaching his side a lesson in the derby.
United were 4-0 down at halftime at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday and eventually lost 6-3.
Ten Hag has now admitted the result was a "reality check" after wins over Liverpool and Arsenal.
However, the Dutchman expects a response when his team travels to Cyprus to face Omonia FC in the Europa League on Thursday.
"When you beat Arsenal and Liverpool, now we get a reality check with Manchester City," Ten Hag said.
"We know we have to step up. So thank you for the lesson, Pep and City, we will take that, we have to understand.
"When you're in a process, it won't go only upside, you will have setbacks.
"We beat Liverpool, but on Sunday we had a bad day at the office and we got beat. We have to accept that, but we can't accept our performance, that was unacceptable."
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