London : Manchester United head coach Jose Mourinho said it would have been an injustice to the English Premier League (EPL) game against Watford if his team had not scored in the first half when they played fluent football.
Manchester United defeated Watford 2-0 at home, stretching their unbeaten run to 16 games, with French winger Anthony Martial scoring a brilliant goal on his return to the side’s playing XI after Juan Mata’s first-half opener on Saturday.
“It was beautiful. The period before the first goal was amazing. The crowd was so happy and so enthusiastic because the quality, the chances, the beauty, the football, the movement, the chances, the saves,” Mourinho told the club’s official website.
“It was absolutely amazing. It would have been a football crime if we didn’t score a goal in that period. We scored and it was an important goal for our confidence. It was a little bit of a sense of relief, arriving at half-time winning,” he added.
The Portuguese tactician also revealed that rather than telling his players to score the goal in the first minute, he advised them to play quality football from the start of the game.
“What pleased me most was the way we started the game. I told the players we don’t need to score in the first minute — it’s difficult to score in the first minute and is something out of our control. But, to start playing good football in the first minute, is possible. It’s our responsibility and we have to do that, and we did that,” Mourinho said.
“We started playing well immediately against a team with lots of defenders, a central defender playing left-back, very defensive players who are big, strong and physical. It was difficult but we did that very well, when we were 1-0 in front, we had more space to play and, with the second goal, it put the win totally in our sights,” he added.
United had a raft of chances to inflict more misery on their rivals but scuffed a lot of opportunities. Mourinho said he brought on Marouane Fellaini to bring more stability to the midfield.
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Wenger plays down talk of Arsenal exit
Arsene Wenger insists he is not preparing to end his long reign at Arsenal despite Ian Wright’s claim the Gunners boss is on the way out. “I was with the boss last night, and if I’m going to be totally honest, I get the impression that that’s it,” Wright told BBC Radio 5 live.
“He actually mentioned when we were talking that he’s coming to the end. I’ve never heard him say that. It was questions and answers. I could be tired because I get up early in the morning and I finish late at night, so I am tired, yes.”
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