“In the first half, for 35 minutes it was City in control, but when they brought on Fernando, they were feeling what everybody was feeling, that we were in control”. Had few players taken chances during the game, including Anthony Martial’s first opportunity half an hour into the game, I believe that the result would be very different. “They have a great squad and we have to be careful”.
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A 79th-minute strike from midfielder Tonny Vilhena punished a lacklustre display from a United side that was much-changed but still contained nearly £300m worth of signings.
Since winning the Europa League’s forerunner, the UEFA Cup, with Porto in 2003, Mourinho had not overseen a match in the competition, concentrating – and winning – the Champions League instead, with the Portuguese side in 2004 and Italy’s Inter Milan in 2010. We felt like they were collapsing a bit physically, they were in trouble and it was that moment in which we lost the game. We were double unlucky because it’s a clear offside.
As United, playing without first-team regulars Wayne Rooney, Luke Shaw and Antonio Valencia, laid siege to the Feyenoord goal in search of an equalizer, Zlatan Ibrahimovic fired a low free kick through a wall of defenders in injury time, but reserve goalkeeper Brad Jones got down easily to block the effort.
“Beforehand I said to the boys, “If we go all out and they play five per cent less then we can win”. I played with enough good players to win the match”, Mourinho added.
“Obviously some played better than others but you can’t judge on one game”.
“We know that when Manchester United goes in the Europa League, we are the team that everyone wants to play against, that everybody wants to fight (against) until their limits, which they did”, Mourinho told British television.
In Group E, Italy’s AS Roma were held to a 1-1 draw at Viktoria Plzen. Sassuolo, appearing in Europe for the first time, started their Group F campaign with a rousing 3-0 home win against 2012 Europa League runners-up Athletic Bilbao.
Even a pre-match rendition of the anthem of arguably their fiercest rivals, You’ll Never Walk Alone, couldn’t dampen their spirits too much.
Uninspired on the attack and unwieldy in possession, Feyenoord eked out a late 1-0 win thanks to Tonny Vilhena’s late strike at the imposing if partially-closed De Kuip.
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Southampton made the flawless start to Group K and claimed their first win under new coach Claude Puel as they beat Sparta Prague 3-0 at St Mary’s Stadium.
