CORKERS...2 PLONKERS 1
Now Jose WILL need a drop of posh wine after this KO blow
IF anyone needed a bottle of plonk after this, it was Jose Mourinho.
It won’t have taken him long to down the £450 number bought for him by Lee Johnson.
On a stunning night for a brilliant Bristol City, Korey Smith struck a dramatic last-gasp winner after Zlatan Ibrahimovic had cancelled out a beauty from Joe Bryan.
It was no more than the Championship side’s performance warranted and, make no mistake, this will hurt silverware-loving Jose.
In case you are that one football fan who has never heard him mention it, Mourinho has 25 trophies to his managerial name.
He can list them in little more than a heartbeat, trust me, and with four successes in it, this competition has done its fair share for his ego.
So when the Reds boss (right) made 10 changes to the team that laboured past West Brom on Sunday, it was not a case of him taking the challenge lightly.
It was not as though he was calling on the kids. These were big players for a big occasion, the atmosphere crackling considerably more than at a standard Premier League contest.
It was never going to faze the likes of Paul Pogba and Ibrahimovic, but nor did it pour pressure on to Robins heads.
This is a tidy, quick-passing team that presses well. Everyone presses well nowadays but boss Johnson has them particularly well-drilled.
Their snappiness into the challenge unsettled United and forced the concession of a couple of dangerous free-kicks, with Josh Brownhill’s Ronaldo-style hit bothering Sergio Romero.
Either United were genuinely unsettled or they had underestimated Championship opposition but, for whatever reason, they were ragged for lengthy periods.
With Matteo Darmian operating on the right of a conventional back four, they were exposed regularly and it was no surprise the City strike of the first half belonged to marauding leftback Hordur Magnusson, Romero less than convincing in shovelling it aside.
In patches, this was the sort of United performance that will have reinforced Mourinho’s belief he needs two or three additions to strengthen the squad depth, probably in both fullback areas. It was not, though, as if United were under the cosh for decent spells, not as if their quality did not peep through regularly. Ibrahimovic, understandably, looked under-cooked but was still sharp enough to have an early volley deflected on to the crossbar, and Marcus Rashford was his usual, occasional threat, hitting the inside of a post with a cut-inside and strike.
But there was no doubt City deserved to have parity at half-time and should, in fact, have enjoyed a cushion when a clever interchange saw Smith bearing down on Romero. Instead, Daley Blind somehow appeared from stage left to nick the ball off Smith’s toes.
It was a priceless intervention from an underrated player.
Well, priceless for less than 10 minutes, priceless until Bryan stepped forward with a strike of stunning purity.
The pass from Marlon Pack to set Bryan free was sweet, the hit from an angle far sweeter.
It would have beaten David De Gea, that’s how good it was.
Alas, on the scoreboard, you still only get one for beauty – the same one United got soon after when Ibrahimovic’s low free-kick found a gap in the wall and the bottom corner.
Romelu Lukaku was soon on for Zlatan but if anyone expected some sort of United siege, they were mistaken.
Sure, United had their chances but when Smith hooked in a remarkable added-time winner, it was no more than Johnson’s side deserved.