Mourinho admits Manchester United want to win Europa League

Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s first goal for Manchester United helped them beat Zorya Luhansk 2-0 and book a spot in the Europa League last 32. Now I understand why I have got my chance and I will keep it, I will hold it, because it is very important for me to play, to be a part of Manchester United.

Fiorentina are also through as winners of Group J after a 2-1 win over Qarabag in Azerbaijan secured by a 76th-minute goal from 19-year-old Federico Chiesa, son of ex-Italy striker Enrico.

“He has a strong mentality”, Mourinho said. “Good and calm. The hotel is good, the stadium is good, the pitch is bad, but it is very cold and I know that it is hard to have a better pitch”, he added.

“We are starting to show our real quality”, Pochettino said.

Paul Scholes and Michael Owen agreed that Henrikh Mkhitaryan now has to be first choice for Manchester United after his fine performance in the Europa League tonight. The Portuguese boss said that he has chose to protect the likes of Antonio Valencia, Mateo Darmian and Michael Carrick ahead of Sunday but the rest of 19-man players in his squad are available to start.

On a freezing evening in Odessa, and on a rock-hard Chornomorets Stadium pitch that match officials deemed fit to play only this afternoon, Mkhitaryan shone while others stumbled. They are trying. People can not make miracles.

Romero – who was startled by a flare thrown by the home support prior to Oleksandr Karavayev volleying wide of his near post – was similarly unoccupied in the United goal.

The 27-year-old also commented on the game and pointed out that him and his teammates were a little below par in the first half against the Ukrainian side.

Unfortunately, they have failed to create any impact so far and struggled to make it to the matchday squad in most occasions this term.

“They just make it risky for the goalkeeper, so they don’t need that”.

“Our flight here was good, the hotel is good, the stadium is good, but the pitch is bad”. And with United needing one point from the fixture to qualify, this only makes things tougher. “I think UEFA knows the conditions of the pitch”.

Zorya were already out heading into the Group A finale and head coach Yuriy Vernydub was proud of his side’s display. It followed the overnight doubt regarding whether the match could be played due to the ground being frozen on Wednesday.

“We made a mistake in the middle of the game and Manchester United used it to score the goal. We want a positive result and a positive meaning for Zorya” ESPN quoted the Zorya boss as saying.