Mourinho's Verdict On Derby Draw

Jose Mourinho was content with a point after Manchester United’s goalless derby draw against rivals City at the Etihad Stadium.    

The Reds, who had Marouane Fellaini sent off late on, remain a point behind fourth-placed City in the race for a top-four finish in the Premier League after Thursday night’s stalemate.

Here is what the boss had to say in his post-match interviews with MUTV, Sky Sports and BBC Sport.

PLEASED WITH ‘VERY GOOD’ FIRST HALF

"With the resilience, the character, the personality, the desire and all the objectives we can find, I am super happy with the boys. In the first half, we were very good. We controlled them totally, easily, and we were dangerous in the counter attack. We had a couple of good chances to score in the first half. If we repeat that in the second half, we win it."

SECOND-HALF DIFFICULTIES

"They started strong, they pushed hard and pressed us higher. At the same time, we were not able to have the ball and move the ball well. I promise not to speak about players who are not playing, that’s why I’m not going to do it. I prefer to say that with the qualities of the players on the pitch, especially in midfield, we missed a little bit of that quality to have the ball, to start moving the ball, to start from the back, to connect with the attacking players.

"In the first half we were direct, we explored a few good positions behind their defenders. They stopped us with a lot of fouls, fouls of intelligent, experienced people like Otamendi, like Kompany. Fouls that the referee doesn’t give because they are really clever at it. But in the first half, I could feel we were always dangerous, [albeit] not with big occasions. We had a couple of movements that could have been the start of something important. In the second half, we didn’t have that. We lost many balls and, in the second half, City were stronger than us."

FELLAINI RED CARD

"I don’t say because I didn’t watch it on TV. I spoke with Marouane, he’s very disappointed, he feels that it’s a red card because he’s Marouane Fellaini. I spoke with Martin [Atkinson, the referee] and Martin told me that in his opinion it was a red card. I didn’t watch but probably I can guess it is a bit of a red card and it is a bit of a very experienced, smart Argentinian player. He says that Sergio Aguero was intelligent, the way he reacted, but the only thing I know is that we had to play almost 15 minutes with a tired team."

UNBEATEN RUN SHOWS RESILIENCE

"Of course and today we showed exactly that against a good team, against a strong team that wants to win the match at home. Playing with 10 men, without any midfield players to make any kind of change because I didn’t have any midfield players on the bench. I played Tim Fosu-Mensah in that extreme situation. The team is in trouble, the team has a lot of problems and to play a big derby like this one the way we did shows resilience, shows big character from the players.

"Today a lot of people were focused on the difference of points between us and Man City but I think some people forgot to look at the distance to Liverpool and this point can be a very important point for us. Twenty-four matches unbeaten in the Premier League is not the same as 24 matches unbeaten in another league. It means a lot. That desire means a lot for everyone."

GETTING READY FOR SWANSEA ON SUNDAY

"It’s going to be very difficult, it’s very very difficult. But what can we do? We go with 11 and for sure the 11 on the pitch are going to give everything, that’s for sure. So, we know we play our lives on Thursday in Vigo because we have to consider that the most important match of the season as we have reached a European semi-final. But against Swansea, with the support of Old Trafford, with these 24 matches unbeaten, we are going to go again and give everything."