I have to admit we got a bit lucky – Mourinho

MANCHESTER UNITED manager Jose Mourinho refused to get too carried away by his side’s stirring victory over Crystal Palace last night, stressing that their 3-2 win was a “fantastic comeback — but with mistakes”.

United were trailing Palace by two goals at the beginning of the second-half, after a powerful Patrick van Aanholt finish from close-range added to Andros Townsend’s deflected opener.

But despite playing poorly for long periods, United fought back. Chris Smalling and Romelu Lukaku pulled them level, before a injury-time volley from Nemanja Matic completed the comeback.

“I have to admit we got a bit lucky,” Mourinho said. “And it was a fantastic comeback but with some big mistakes.

“In the end we needed that little bit of luck in the last minute. Of course to play away from home against a team who really needs the points is hard, but we kept the faith and belief. And we made some important changes.

“We also have to recognise that Palace did very well — Roy (Hodgson) was aggressive and clever, and he went direct and tried to bring the emotion of the game to his team. So there were a lot of dangers, but in the end I would say that we deserved it.”

Hodgson was left to rue yet another injury-time horror show, just days after a late Harry Kane header robbed them of their chance to win an impressive point against Tottenham Hotspur.

“I feel sadness as tonight I saw a group of players give their all for the club,” he said. “To come away with nothing from the game, as we did against Tottenham, I feel very sad for them.”