Mourinho reacts to Liverpool draw

Jose Mourinho spoke to MUTV and in his press conference after Manchester United drew 1-1 with Liverpool at Old Trafford. Here's what the manager had to say...
ON THE GAME
"The result is not the result we wanted, it’s not the result we fought for, but it is a result we have to accept. We were the team with the chances in the first half but they were the team who scored with the penalty, then in the second half we dominated them and had more chances, but they defended well and tried to smell the possibility of a counter-attack. It was a very emotional game and I believe both sets of players are very tired because they gave everything. But I think Manchester United can play better than we did and I also think Liverpool can play better. So the game was below the quality of both teams, but in terms of a proper Premier League match and a derby, it had a lot for people to enjoy."

HUNTING AN EQUALISER
"I was watching the game, we were losing and I was looking always to the same side – I have a problem with my neck because I was always looking to the left side! We changed the qualities of our game and went to a more direct approach because Liverpool were defending with so many bodies behind the ball; in the end we put pressure on them, we equalised and I think, with a few more minutes, we were closer to wining because they were under real pressure and our team was so strong mentally and emotionally."

CHANCES MISSED
"We missed important chances. I saw good saves by the goalkeeper, I saw Mkhitaryan backpassing the ball [behind Martial], I saw the Fellaini ball hit the post. I saw so many things happening then but the goal was not coming. Finally, the goal came and I repeat: with a few more minutes, we win the game. But no more minutes."

HAPPY WITH A POINT?
"I’m not happy. Whether it’s good or bad, I’m not happy. When are you losing and score in the last part of the game, the team that concedes the goal feels worse than the team who scores, but in the end we lost the points because we were playing for three. And the way they played, I think they were happy with the point, so probably they go away happy."

FELLAINI'S IMPACT
"I had one more option: Fellaini or Rashford. But I saw so many yellow shirts in the box, in front of the box, that I thought probably my players would lose a bit of the emotional balance and would go for a more direct approach. To go with a more direct approach, it has to be with Marouane and he was an important player for us."

PRAISE FOR LIVERPOOL
"In the second half, Liverpool were winning and they know how to defend – they defend very well. I think they press really well and their lateral movement is good. When we played at Anfield, we had a phenomenal defensive performance with lots of critics; today I think Liverpool don’t deserve critics, I think they deserve people to say that defensively they are very good."

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Mkhitaryan: Atmosphere was amazing

Although disappointed not to win, Henrikh Mkhitaryan enjoyed the “amazing” atmosphere at Old Trafford in his first experience of Manchester United’s fierce rivalry with Liverpool.

The Reds were held to a 1-1 draw in the Premier League as Zlatan Ibrahimovic notched his 19th goal of the season to cancel out James Milner’s first-half penalty at a raucous Theatre of Dreams.
In particular, the noise levels inside the stadium erupted when Zlatan equalised on 84 minutes as the crowd willed the team on to secure a possible comeback victory. While a second goal unfortunately never came, Mkhitaryan told MUTV afterwards that he relished the whole experience.
“The atmosphere was amazing,” Henrikh said. “I want to see more of this kind of atmosphere in the stadium. Thanks to the supporters. They were believing in us and they supported us until the end.”
Offering his assessment of the match, Mkhitaryan continued: “It wasn’t the right result but we were down 1-0 so it wasn’t a bad result. We could have won, we could have lost, but I think we deserved to win more because we played very well like a team and did our best to win the game.
“The score was 1-1 at the end so we were pushing up a bit, trying to find the net for the second time but unfortunately we couldn’t. So 1-1 is not a bad result because we are still very close to the top four and we will do our best in the next games.”
Marouane Fellaini made a telling impact as a substitute on Sunday as his header that bounced off the post led to Ibrahimovic scoring a vital goal just seconds later. Mkhitaryan was quick to praise the Belgian afterwards, but also had positive words for United’s two other replacements.
“Not only Marouane but also Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata put freshness in the team,” Micki explained. “They helped us a lot up front and we are happy that they could change something in our game. We are happy to have them coming on.”
Mkhitryan is unconcerned that United’s nine-match winning run has come to an end, saying records are not the main focus this season, yet he hopes to begin another run at Stoke City next weekend.
“For sure, why not?” he said. “We have to win, try to win the next game. We are not looking for records, we are doing our best to be in the top four and to do that you have to win games. Do not think about records because one day they will break. We are just trying to do our job by winning every game.”

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Ibra and Mkhitaryan win PL awards double

Manchester United duo Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have scooped the Premier League's Player and Goal of the Month awards respectively after their impressive December.

Ibrahimovic, United's top scorer this season, found the net seven times in six games during the month, as well as providing three assists. Having already been named the club's Player of the Month after pipping Mkhitaryan to the prize, Zlatan's incredible debut season has now been recognised with yet another accolade.
"Slowly I'm adapting," Ibrahimovic told PremierLeague.com. "I feel comfortable, I feel confident. I'm playing in a great team with great team-mates and a great coach - it's just a great club. I just had to come and do the things I know I can do well; when you work hard, it pays off."
Meanwhile, there was little surprise about the outcome of the Goal of the Month vote, with Mkhitaryan's stunning scorpion kick against Sunderland standing out among the contenders.
Like Ibrahimovic, the Armenian midfielder had previously won the club's version of his award, and he was naturally delighted to be recognised again for his extraordinary effort on Boxing Day.
He said: "I have never scored a goal like this before. I've scored many nice goals, but none like this one. I had a lot of time to think, I just reacted as quickly as I could.
"I was waiting for the ball to come in front of me but it came behind me, so the only thing I could do was backheel it! I'm very happy, very glad that I could score such a goal."
Ibrahimovic had the final say on Mkhitaryan's success by quipping: "We trained a couple of weeks before and I told him exactly how to do the movement. The pass needed to be perfect and it went well!"
The duo will look to continue their fine form when United take on Liverpool at Old Trafford this Sunday.

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Zlatan reacts to 1-1 draw with Liverpool

Zlatan Ibrahimovic admits Manchester United were not on top form in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool, although the goalscorer was pleased by the team’s spirited second-half display.

The Reds fell behind to James Milner’s 27th-minute penalty at Old Trafford but admirably recovered after the half-time break and Ibrahimovic equalised with his 19th goal of the season.
Ibrahimovic feels United would have won all three Premier League points if the team had started with the more direct approach that caused the Merseysiders so many problems in the closing stages.
“We got one point and I don't think we were at the top of our game,” Zlatan admitted to Sky Sports following the final whistle. “It was a hard fight, a hard game, and we were 1-0 down. We chased and chased, and it was a different game. But then we got the equaliser.”
Asked what went wrong in the first half, Ibra said: “We made simple mistakes. We were not feeling comfortable in the pressure of the opponent, and I think we played the wrong way. If we played like we did in the second half in the first half, then it would have been a different game.
“We were more direct in the second half. We didn't build from behind, we put it up and we started from up the pitch because they had a very high pressure. We had too many mistakes in our build-up so in the second half we chose to go more direct.”
Ibrahimovic scored the vital equaliser on 84 minutes by heading Antonio Valencia’s deft cross past Simon Mignolet, prompting an eruption of noise from the United fans inside the stadium.
“It was a good cross,” he said. “I thought the header of Fellaini would go in off the post into the goal, but okay we got a second chance, Valencia put in a good ball, I just stayed there and tried to hit the goal.”
Sunday’s result means United’s nine-match winning run is now over, but the team is still unbeaten in 16 matches across all competitions and Zlatan remains confident of climbing the table.
“We would like to win, of course – every game we want to win to close the gap even more – but okay it was 1-1 and we will continue like this,” he said. “We haven't lost in 16 games – we are there.”

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Manchester United 1 Liverpool 1

Manchester United are now unbeaten in 16 games following a hard-fought 1-1 draw against rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford as the bragging rights and points were shared.

James Milner gave the visitors the lead from the penalty spot midway through the first half after Paul Pogba had handled in the box, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic headed in a late leveller to give United a share of the spoils.
Boss Jose Mourinho made four changes to the side that beat Hull City in the EFL Cup on Tuesday with Marcos Rojo, Michael Carrick, Anthony Martial and Ibrahimovic all coming back into the starting XI in place of Chris Smalling, Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Marcus Rashford.
As with any United and Liverpool encounter, the atmosphere inside Old Trafford was electric before kick-off and both sets of fans stood together for a period of applause in remembrance of the late Graham Taylor.
This was the 50th Premier League meeting between the two sides and such was the intensity of a game of this magnitude, it was typically a frenetic start with both teams struggling to retain possession of the ball.
United did threaten first on 18 minutes, though, as a sloppy back-pass from Dejan Lovren allowed Ibrahimovic to block Simon Mignolet's clearance but, luckily for Liverpool, the ball ended up on the roof of the net, rather than the back of it.
A minute later and the Reds should really have been in front. Henrikh Mkhitaryan played in Pogba for the first clear chance of the game, but the Frenchman scuffed his effort wide with just Mignolet to beat.
At the other end, Divock Origi scuffed his volleyed effort when free in the box before Phil Jones dallied on the ball and was rescued by his partner Rojo.
Then, on 27 minutes, Pogba handled a Liverpool corner while challenging Lovren in the air and Milner stepped up to fire the visitors into the lead from the penalty spot.
Six minutes later and Ibrahimovic so nearly levelled it up but his vicious free-kick from a yard outside the Liverpool penalty area was beaten away down low by Mignolet.
Five minutes before the break, Mkhitaryan latched onto a cute through-ball from Ander Herrera, but again Mignolet came to the visitors' rescue when one-on-one, meaning United trailed at the break, despite creating the better opportunities.

HALF-TIME STATS
Possession: United 52% Liverpool 48%
Shots at goal: United 4 Liverpool 5
Shots on target: United 2 Liverpool 1
Corners: United 3 Liverpool 5
Mourinho introduced Wayne Rooney at half-time with the Old Trafford faithful hoping he could revive United and break Sir Bobby Charlton's goalscoring record in the process.
But it was Liverpool who came close to doubling their lead as a quick counter attack allowed Origi to fire a wicked shot inches wide of David De Gea's far post, via a deflection.
It was then United's turn to counter-attack at pace and, similarly to the first half, the Reds could have levelled the game - a game which was beginning to look like a typical United v Liverpool encounter as the minutes ticked on.
Martial won the ball high up the field and he found Ibrahimovic who slipped in the Armenian, but his attempted cross-hit shot evaded everyone.
At the other end, Roberto Firmino could have put the game to bed after he was played in by substitute Philippe Coutinho, but De Gea saved down low.
United continued to push forward, which meant Liverpool were dangerous on the counter-attack and Georginio Wijnaldum arrived late to head over at the back post following a Firmino cross.
But the Reds' pressure finally told six minutes from time as first substitute Marroune Fellaini's header rebounded off the post, before Ibrahimovic headed in Antonio Valencia's cross via the crossbar to ensure United's second-half dominance was rewarded.
Both sides pushed to grab all three points late on, but the spoils were shared, meaning United's long unbeaten run now stretches to 16 matches in all competitions.

FULL-TIME STATS
Possession: United 55% Liverpool 45%
Shots at goal: United 9 Liverpool 13
Shots on target: United 3 Liverpool 4
Corners: United 5 Liverpool 7

THE TEAMS:
United: De Gea; Valencia, Jones, Rojo, Darmian (Fellaini 75); Carrick (Rooney 45), Herrera, Pogba; Martial (Mata 65), Mkhitaryan; Ibrahimovic.
Subs not used: Romero, Blind, Smalling, Rashford.
Booked: Herrera.
Liverpool: Mignolet; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Klaven, Milner; Henderson, Can, Wijnaldum; Lallana, Firminho, Origi (Coutinho 60).
Subs not used: Karius, Gomez, Moreno, Stewart, Ejaria, Sturridge.
Booked: Lovren, Firmino.

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