Kevin De Bruyne praised his side’s fighting spirit as Manchester City clinched a 2-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Advertisement
Having seen a selection gamble of giving Jesse Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan their first starts of the season backfire in the first-half against City, Mourinho admitted he was surprised by the mental fragility of some of his players. I want to win.
“It not easy, your first game after two training sessions, to come her to Old Trafford and play with that personality”.
Ibrahimovic scored 156 goals and assisted a further 61 strikes in 180 matches for the reigning Ligue 1 champions.
And much of it was instigated by a player jettisoned by Mourinho in the coach’s days at Chelsea. However, it is only the beginning of the season, so the victory in this game does not guarantee Man City the Premiere League title.
“So you never know the way players are going to react, especially when you don’t know them so well”.
“It’s really good, we defended the set-pieces [well] because they are stronger and taller than us and we defended really good”.
Ibrahimovic was recently asked if there is anything about his former club he misses, and he did not take long to answer in typically honest fashion.
“It was hard, especially in the second half, because they were much stronger physically and in the air but I think we coped well and we had the chances to get the third in the second half. The kid gave us what we had needed in the first half”.
“I think it’s the last part of that because he’s training with the group”. But we go to one of the best stadiums in the world and won the game. In the second half, we were the best team. “In the second half, the long balls, you just pray because it’s nearly impossible to control that”. He dropped the ball under no great pressure, allowing the alert Ibrahimovic to volley home from the edge of the box and quite transform the game’s dynamic.
The 18-year-old has enjoyed a stunning 2016 since scoring twice on his debut against FC Midtjylland, netting five goals in just four Premier League starts last season – including the victor in the Manchester derby in March – before a debut strike for England earned him a place at Euro 2016.
Advertisement
“He was the only striker we had in that moment”, the Spaniard said, via the Manchester Evening News.
