Mkhitaryan heaven scent for Jose boys

HENRIKH MKHITARYAN was on target last night to give Manchester United a sniff of Europa League glory.

Boss Jose Mourinho said once a team reaches the last eight of a cup competition they can start to smell the trophy. And United will be confident of finishing the job at Old Trafford next week and securing a place in the quarter-finals after Mkhitaryan’s goal earned them a hard-fought draw. It’s nine matches down and another six to go if they are to lift the trophy in Stockholm on May 24 and earn a backdoor route into the Champions League. And if ever there was a game that underlined why United need and want to be back in Europe’s top club competition then this was it. Just 238 United followers made the trip – and it wasn’t one they will be storing in the memory banks for long. To add to probably the poorest surface United have ever played on, a cold, blustery wind blew across the Olimp-2 Stadium making conditions even worse for quality football. Mourinho will be satisfied with a draw and an away goal, because on a superior surface at Old Trafford next Thursday United’s quality should tell. They needed the right mentality to avoid going the same way as Ajax and Bayern Munich against a team who had only lost one of previous 30 home games.

United refused to be bullied and did most of it themselves in a first half when there was precious little football to speak of – but plenty of niggle and fight.

Paul Pogba, who missed a sitter against Bournemouth on Saturday, started the same way by scuffing an early chance.

Slipping

But from the one real quality move of the first half, United took the lead.

Marouane Fellaini controlled Phil Jones’ pass on his chest before slipping the ball to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who cut it back from the byline for Mkhitaryan to score with a first-time effort.

United did not put a foot wrong at the back in the first half but they let their defensive guard slip after 53 minutes.

Timofei Kalachev lofted the ball forward and Aleksandr Bukharov got