Feyenoord stunned Manchester United 1-0 in the Europa League on Thursday, handing the English giant a second loss in less than a week.
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United manager Jose Mourinho attempted to breathe life into his listless team with a triple substitution in the 63rd, bringing on Ibrahimovic, Memphis Depay, and Ashley Young for Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, and Juan Mata, but the changes failed to galvanize them.
“Ibrahimovic is the type of player I call eternal and immortal”, Mazzarri said in his pre-match press conference. “When we won the Community Shield and the first three Premier League matches I was not on the moon, I was not saying we were a phenomenal team and we are going to destroy every opponent”.
Jose Mourinho was frustrated by the result and the fact Nicolai Jorgensen was not called offside in the build-up to Tonny Vilhena’s later victor – something that also irked Smalling, as did the overall display.
Speaking to Full Time Devils, as you can see in the above video, one fan at De Kuip said the £90million signing “was missing” during the first group game.
The win was not the only surprise on a night that featured the fastest league goal, a stunning comeback, and a shock defeat for a European powerhouse at the hands of a Europa League debutant. The England captain has gone three club matches without scoring, and with questions still being asked about his best position and even his future at Old Trafford, may feel he has a thing or two to prove.
“We were trying to push and they were collapsing a little bit because physically they were in trouble and, exactly in that moment, we lose the game”.
“I just want Paul to forget that and to play his football”.
While Tonny Vilhena’s goal 11 minutes from time clinched a famous win for Feyenoord, Jones arguably had a bigger role to play, as he made a few crucial saves in a flawless 90 minutes.
“It is attractive that he has respect for me, especially because he is one of the best players in Europe”.
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“So the form will come naturally and will come with the team improving. It was double unlucky because it was a clear offside”. In the first half they were in control, but they were playing half-pace. The second half was different, when we were trying to win and Feyenoord were trying not to lose. Last term they lost 11 of 12 winless matches against the top-six, with a W0-D1-L5 record at home despite finding the net in half of these.
