Jose Mourinho reveals half-time team talk against Manchester City

Despite finding first-team action hard to come by under Jose Mourinho, the 18-year-old has already scored a last-minute victor against Hull and also made a positive impact from the bench in the Manchester derby.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic pulled one back for United in the 42nd minute to set up an intriguing second half but a resilient City held out for a deserved three points.

Rooney played at No.10 in United’s 2011 Champions League final defeat to Guardiola’s Barcelona and, although he was the brightest performer, Sir Alex Ferguson was believed to have been frustrated with his failure to press midfielder Sergio Busquets. “I’m happy it gives an effect but, even if I was not here, they would still do good”, he added. “Some of the guys, they felt it”.

But that doesn’t appear to have put Mourinho off of the 23-year-old.

Guardiola greeted Mourinho with a handshake and a hug before kickoff.

Liverpool took a two-goal lead following first-half efforts from Firmino and Mane, but Leicester halved the deficit when Jamie Vardy capitalised on a mindless pass from Lucas Leiva to tap in past Simon Mignolet.

But he saved his most trenchant remarks for centre-backs Daley Blind and, in particular, Eric Bailly, saying some players had shown signs they did not possess the requisite big-game temperament.

De Bruyne was at the heart of City’s dominant start that showcased the team’s technical prowess and movement that is the hallmark of Guardiola’s teams down the years.

Guardiola said he had not seen the incident, but revealed that Aleksandar Kolarov had lost a tooth during the game.

Iheanacho was naturally also delighted with his contribution.

But he also emphasised that with them not making the most of some openings, City had to “suffer” through a second half in which Jose Mourinho’s United, invigorated by some half-time substitutions, were considerably improved.

De Bruyne was the provider for Iheanacho’s goal, finding space in United’s area to drift on to his left foot and drive a low shot against the post. This step could allow Man United to equalize, but Rooney, Ibrahimovic and Rashford missed their chances.

The striker has only been used off the bench by Jose Mourinho so far this season, but Ibrahimovic knows it is only a matter of time until he is starting.

“What was most important was that we started a very hard run of seven games in 20 matches with a win”, said Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino.