Mourinho eyes hat-trick of cup triumphs
Man U draw 1-1 in Rostov ahead of Chelsea clash
>> ROSTOV-ON-DON: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is hopeful the obstacle of a trip to Chelsea in the FA Cup does not hinder his side’s prospects of completing a Europa League last-16 win over Rostov.
United drew 1-1 in Russia in the first leg of their tie on Thursday after Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s first-half opener was cancelled out by an Aleksandr Bukharov strike shortly after the break.
It was a good result after a long trip for a match played on a shocking surface at the Olimp 2 stadium — so bad that Mourinho had questioned whether the match should have gone ahead at all.
United host Rostov in the return at Old Trafford next Thursday but before that they go to Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Monday evening, meaning the Portuguese manager will have to adequately manage his squad to avoid fatigue.
And he acknowledged the importance of the Europa League as a potential route into next season’s Champions League for a team currently sitting sixth in the Premier League.
“We want to keep the two goals open. In the Europa League, if you manage to go to the quarter finals, then in the quarter finals, you feel it so we have to try by every means,” said Mourinho, whose side have already won the English League Cup this season.
“We have a trophy in our pocket which is always a good thing, a good feeling for everyone. But now we have the Premier league to try to be in the top four, we have the Europa League to try to beat Rostov, and on Monday we cannot go with a bad team.
“Manchester United is too big. It’s not Chelsea’s fault that we’ll play on Monday. So we have to make changes, for sure, but we cannot go to Stamford Bridge with a bad team.”
Of the game in Rostov, the former Chelsea manager admitted disappointment at his side’s inability to hold their lead but hinted that the outcome still suited him.
“You know, an away goal is always positive. It’s better 1-1 than 0-0 but the game is open,” said Mourinho, who won the Uefa Cup with Porto in 2003.
“The result is open and this Rostov team, they have experience at playing big matches, big opponents and big stadiums. I don’t think it’s a problem for them to compete against us.
“They play Sunday [tomorrow] against Terek Grozny, we play Monday against Chelsea. For us, it’s difficult but we are one step from being in the quarter-finals.”
There was greater entertainment in France, where Lyon took the lead, then went behind before coming back to beat Roma 4-2 in a superb encounter.
Young defender Mouctar Diakhaby turned in an early opener after Rafael had helped on a Mathieu Valbuena free-kick, but his slip allowed Mohamed Salah in to equalise for Roma in the 20th minute.
Federico Fazio then headed in a Daniele De Rossi cross to put the Italian side in front before the interval, yet the hosts fought back again in the second period.
Corentin Tolisso combined with Alexandre Lacazette before beating Alisson Becker with a fine strike, and Nabil Fekir came off the bench to score a superb third for Lyon in the 74th minute.
Roma, currently second in Serie A, would still have been hopeful of turning things around in next week’s second leg but Lacazette thundered in the hosts’ fourth in stoppage time to give Lyon a two-goal cushion.
Meanwhile, Schalke came from behind to draw 1-1 at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach in the all-German tie in Gelsenkirchen.
Gladbach won 4-2 at home to Schalke last weekend and went in front on Thursday through Jonas Hofmann, only for Guido Burgstaller to equalise for the hosts.
Claudio Beauvue netted in the last minute as Celta Vigo beat Krasnodar 2-1 in Spain, while Vincent Aboubakar cancelled out Esteban Cambiasso’s goal as Besiktas of Turkey drew 1-1 away to Olympiakos in Greece.
Elsewhere, Genk won 5-2 away to Belgian rivals Gent, FC Copenhagen beat Ajax 2-1 in Denmark with Andreas Cornelius heading in the winner, and Anderlecht beat APOEL 1-0 in Cyprus.