Mourinho slams hitkid for red card as he dodges heat with vital victory
JOSE MOURINHO handed over his coat to the travelling fans then branded sub Marcus Rashford “naive” for being forced to get his.
The Manchester United striker lasted just 10 minutes at Turf Moor after putting his head into Phil Bardsley’s earned a straight red for violent conduct.
By that 71st-minute flashpoint a muchneeded win was already all but secured as Romelu Lukaku’s first-half double eased the pressure on Mourinho after back-to-back Premier League defeats.
Such had been the support from the visiting fans the Portuguese climbed over the hoarding at full-time with a present for one fan – his jacket.
Rashford said sorry to those same fans last night, telling his 1.32 million Twitter followers “emotions got the better of me” and “I shouldn’t of reacted like that”.
As for Mourinho he admitted the 20-year-old – now facing a three-match ban – showed a lack of experience in landing the first red card of his career.
BURNLEY .............. 0 MAN UTD .............. 2
“Harsh? I don’t know, it could be a yellow card for each. Jon Moss had a good BY ANDY DUNN at Turf Moor game, a good performance, the same as the two assistants and in that action I don’t know, I didn’t watch.”
United fans sang Mourinho’s name throughout while a plane flew overhead with a banner criticising executive vicechairman Ed Woodward.
The sign read “Ed Woodward: Specialist in Failure”, quoting Mourinho’s infamous 2014 put-down of former dugout rival Arsene Wenger.
Asked what he made of the banner, Mourinho said: “You know in the match I’m not looking to the sky – unless I’m asking something from the guy to give me help.
“I didn’t see planes but Ed Woodward won this afternoon. He won 2-0.
“We started winning this match because of Old Trafford after losing to Spurs. We lost at home.
“If the fans react badly the team loses confidence, the team feels pressure and the next match is more difficult. We lost at home, the fans were amazing and understood the performance was good,