Ryan Giggs admits Manchester City deserved their 2-1 derby victory at Old Trafford on Sunday.
First-half goals from Darius Vassell and Benjani Mwaruwari were enough for City to dent United's Premier League title aspirations as the Red Devils could only hit a late consolation through Michael Carrick.
And Giggs admits United were not up to the task as they slumped to their first double league defeat to City since 1970.
"It was probably the result that City deserved really," Giggs told United's official website. "They played better than us.
"City scored at important times in the game and we didn't recover. City could just sit back then and try to catch us on the counter attack.
"Defensively we didn't play well. Attacking-wise, we just didn't turn up.
"But there was enough motivation for us - a massive game for the club, a derby and an important three points."
And Giggs confesses that United cannot afford any more slip-ups as they battle with league leaders Arsenal and Chelsea in the race for the top flight's silverware.
"We probably can't afford to drop any more points now. We've got to make sure we don't produce any more performances like that," Giggs continued.
"We just didn't perform as a team, and individuals, like we have been doing this season and like we are capable of," the Welsh winger added on Sky Sports News. "It's disappointing on a lot of fronts."
Carrick, meanwhile, remains optimistic United can overhaul Arsenal in the race for the title.
He told MUTV: "There are still games to play.
"I don't think Arsenal will go the rest of the season without dropping points. If they did, fair play to them.
"There are still going to be ups and downs in the title race, and hopefully there will be more ups for us and we can overtake them."
Referring to the derby game, he added: "Scoring doesn't really mean much because we lost, we're all desperately disappointed.
"We never got going and didn't create the chances we normally do. That's not like us.
"It was good to see that the minute's silence was well observed. But in terms of the game we're not going home happy."
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