3-0, but Jose still not happy

– Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho (above) accused his players of not showing an appropriate level of mental preparation during their 3-0 Europa League victory over StEtienne.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s hat-trick earned United a handsome win in Thursday’s last 32 first-leg match at Old Trafford, but the scoreline did not tell the full story.

The French side finished the first half strongly and substitute Nolan Roux spurned a glorious chance to level two minutes before Ibrahimovic netted United’s second goal in the 75th minute.

Mourinho said United’s first half had been “so bad” and when asked why, he said it had been down to a “lack of concentration”.

“I had the feeling immediately in the dressing-room: too noisy, too funny, too relaxed,” he told reporters.

“Then my assistants had the feeling in the warm-up, with some of the guys not really focused on getting the right adrenaline in their bodies.”

Ibrahimovic, 35, took his tally of goals against St-Etienne to 17 in 14 games, but the 17th hat-trick of his career was also probably the most scruffy.

He opened the scoring with a 15th-minute freekick that was awarded for a seemingly non-existent foul on him by Jordan Veretout and his shot trickled past Stephane Ruffier via a deflection off Vincent Pajot.

His second goal was a tap-in created by substitute Marcus Rashford and his third, with two minutes to play, came from the spot after he crumpled following a challenge by Kevin Theophile-Catherine.

Ibrahimovic has scored more goals against St-Etienne than any other club and despite United’s healthy advantage, he hopes to play in Wednesday’s return leg.

“Every time I’ve played against them, with hard work there has been a couple of goals,” said the striker.

St-Etienne coach Christophe Galtier was unable to disguise his disappointment with Czech referee Pavel Kralovec.

“The scoreline is very harsh,” he said. “I’m disappointed by the errors of the officials, in particular the first free-kick and the penalty.” – AFP

I had the feeling immediately: too noisy, too funny, too relaxed. Jose Mourinho Manchester United manager