Mourinho Reacts To Win Over Brighton

Jose Mourinho believes that Brighton were “probably” the toughest opponents his Manchester United have faced at home so far this season.

The Reds edged past the stubborn Seagulls as Ashley Young’s strike deflected in off Lewis Dunk in the second half and proved the difference in a vital 1-0 victory at the Theatre of Dreams.

Read what the boss had to say in his post-match interview with BBC Sport and in his press conference…

HAPPY WITH THE ATTITUDE  
“I think they played really well. We didn't play well. The good thing for me was the intensity got higher in the second half in search of the goal and then, after the goal, we couldn’t kill the game and, in the last 10-15 minutes, I saw a team with everyone trying to play for the clean sheet and to give everything. But I have to praise a team and a manager that, a few months ago, were playing in the Championship and, today, they come to Old Trafford and they were the team until now who caused us the most problems.”  

TOO MANY ATTACKERS?
“I wouldn’t be surprised if, today, some of the pundits say we play with too many attackers, but, if they say that, I think they are right. Sometimes you play with too many attacking players and you lose control of the game. We had a few problems defensively because [Nemanja] Matic and [Paul] Pogba were a bit isolated in the centre of the park and, if you compensate that with more creation, that's a good risk. And, against Newcastle, it was good because we were not solid defensively but we were really strong in creation. Today, our creation was poor. The three players that played with Lukaku did not get the ball, we weren’t successful on the one against one. Marcus [Rashford] did not have a happy match at all. So we did not have that creation and could expect some defensive problems against a good team on the counter attack.”

FINDING THE BALANCE
“I could expect us to concede a goal. I could expect us to have more football, more chances and more goals but we didn't and, when we saw that and we found ourselves winning 1-0, it was a moment to try to give balance but it is hard for me to be on the bench and I don't know when Pogba needs to be changed. I want to play Fellaini earlier, with Pogba but I don't know if Pogba is happy to be on the pitch on the fatigue line or if the fatigue reached the line. It is hard for me to be on the bench with this.”

REDS DON’T DESERVE BAD WORDS
“We had amazing chances a couple of days ago and we couldn’t score, today we did it. Congratulations to them for their performance, congratulations to my boys. My boys, they didn’t play well but they gave everything. The boys, they don’t deserve bad words from me.”

GOALS DRYING UP?
"In the Champions League, we played some of the best football away from home in the first half and could have been 6-0 but it was 0-0. I am not happy with that but today we scored one and one goal was enough for the three points because in the end we speak about what we want but the points is the most important."

CREDIT FOR BRIGHTON
“I want to be honest and give them what they deserve, for me, probably they deserve more than the result they got. They played really well, they had a good defensive organisation and then, when they had the ball, they were dangerous. Honestly, I think Brighton were very, very good. They gave us probably the hardest match we’ve had this season. I think we had more spirit and heart than quality.”