Europa League: Mourinho not happy with Zorya’s pitch

Second-half goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were enough for Manchester United to progress into the last 32 of the Europa League.

Mkhitaryan left the field on a stretcher but Mourinho expects his ankle injury to only keep him out for a couple of weeks.

Mourinho’s men sit an eye-watering 13 points off the lead and nine behind the top four just 14 matches into the season.

“When we play against other teams in the Premier League, normally they are the man of the match”.

“Jose Mourinho has handled Henrikh Mkhitaryan very well even though fans were frustrated when he was left out earlier on”, he said.

Initial struggles following Mkhitaryan’s summer move from Borussia Dortmund have been forgotten in recent matches, with the 27-year-old flourishing when finally given the nod.

Now he is settled, Mkhitaryan is looking the part.

He bypassed the white shirts and took aim at the top of the box, seeing his effort fly past Hugo Lloris into the top corner. His injury will set him back once again, however.

Shaw and Bailly’s return to face Tottenham will be a much needed boost for Mourinho to welcome the side who are one spot above them in the Premier League table, with six points difference. United has already lost to City and Chelsea this season, and drawn against Arsenal and Liverpool.

It came during a period of United pressure that saw Ander Herrera get away a fizzing shot comfortably dealt with by goalkeeper Igor Levchenko, who will have been relieved to see a 20-yard Paul Pogba effort whistle into the side-netting shortly afterwards.

“The players I had to leave out to protect (them)”, the Portuguese told reporters yesterday.

“We are never given a Monday match to have one more day to rest and prepare”. Disappointed with the result at the end, not our performance.

Manager Yuriy Vernydub set out his side to be hard to break down and that’s exactly what they were against the Red Devils.

There were some boos from United fans toward Marouane Fellaini as the midfielder warmed up late in the second half, with Mourinho contemplating a substitution.

The son of former Italy striker Enrico grabbed the winning goal, his first senior strike, in the 76th minute but was then dismissed following a second booking eight minutes later.

“I’m very happy for him as well because he had a long time out injured, he’s come back, everyone has helped him and he’s scoring a lot for the team so I’m really happy about that”. “He will always have my trust and protection”, Mourinho added.