4 Reds Praised By Mourinho

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho took time to praise Marcos Rojo, Ander Herrera, Michael Carrick and Paul Pogba for their roles in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over City in the EFL Cup.

Juan Mata scored the winning goal at Old Trafford and the boss went out of his way to high-five the Spaniard in appreciation of his contribution when the Spaniard exited the action on 73 minutes. The player was later voted as the club’s Man of the Match by followers of the club’s Twitter account.

However, when speaking to MUTV after the victory, as part of a passionate and lengthy answer about United’s second-half improvement, Mourinho highlighted the efforts of the aforementioned group. He began by saluting Argentina international Rojo for his display at centre-back alongside Daley Blind.

“We are used to playing with Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling but we have lost both to injury,” the manager explained. “We had to play with two left-footed central defenders [Daley Blind] and Marcos had not played for a while, but he played phenomenally tonight.”

Mourinho then went on to acknowledge how his three central midfielders changed the game with their increased pressing in the second half, which ultimately led to Mata netting his 54th-minute decider.

“We were getting confident step by step, we were starting to trust our defensive organisation,” the boss continued. “Then in the second half, especially Herrera, Carrick and Pogba, they increased the tempo.

"They started pressing higher. I thought Ander brought the team to different levels of intensity and pressing. Then we started recovering balls and being dangerous.”

In the same interview with MUTV, Mourinho also dedicated the victory to the club's "absolutely wonderful" supporters in light of United's disappointing defeat to Chelsea at the weekend.