Rashford earns Jose’s plaudits

MOURINHO: I DON’T THINK THE KEEPER HAD ANY CHANCE

Stunning free kick gives United upper hand for second leg.

Vigo

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho heaped praise on Marcus Rashford’s desire to improve after the 19-year-old’s brilliant free-kick handed the English giants a 1-0 Europa League semifinal, first-leg win at Celta Vigo on Thursday.

One moment of magic from the England international settled a tight encounter as he pulled his strike across Celta Vigo goalkeeper Sergio Alvarez into the far corner 23 minutes from time.

“The free-kick is work. He works every day. Sometimes the training session finished and he keeps working with my assistant,” said Mourinho.

“The free kick was fantastic and I don’t think the goalkeeper had any chance.”

Rashford and United could have had more of an advantage to take back to Old Trafford for the second leg on May 11.

Alvarez made a string of saves to deny Rashford, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard.

Mourinho hailed a solid overall performance from United that takes them closer to a return to the Champions League next season should they go on to win the competition for the first time.

However, he lamented not having killed the tie off given Celta’s excellent record away from home in Europe this season.

“It is a good result, but it is short,” he added.

“It could have been better, 0-1 is a short result and seeing Celta’s trajectory in the Europa League they definitely deserve respect.”

Celta’s frustration spilled over in the closing stages as United ran the clock down efficiently.

And Celta striker John Guidetti said the Spaniards should learn from Mourinho’s streetwise tactics.

“At the end of the day it’s a setpiece that gets us,” said the Swedish international.

“After that Mourinho just tells his players: ‘Game’s over, game’s finished, 1-0, we’re not gonna play any more football tonight’.” –