Mighty trio praised by boss after Boro battle
JOSE Mourinho singled out Ashley Young, Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini as ‘guys who were ready to answer’ following the win over Middlesbrough.
The Reds, who had been marooned in sixth place for 19 weeks, closed the gap on the top four with a 3-1 win at the Riverside thanks to goals from Fellaini, Jesse Lingard and Antonio Valencia .
It was United’s fifth game in just 15 days and Mourinho made seven changes from the side that beat Rostov just three days previously.
And with Luke Shaw, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial all on the bench, Mourinho was pleased with how his squad coped.
“The winning is great for the group,” he said.
“Rostov away, Chelsea with 10 men, Rostov again and now Middlesbrough with injured players, tired players, suspended players, but these guys were magnificent against Middlesbrough.
“I was expecting this kind of answer. I knew that people like Ashley Young, Carrick, Fellaini - I knew that Fellaini played against Rostov and for 40 minutes he was amazing.
“His form is high. Ashley Young played against Rostov and at Stamford Bridge. I knew the guys were ready to answer. So it was very good; I think we played really well.” JESSE Lingard won’t give up his penchant for elaborate goal celebrations as long as United boss Jose Mourinho is happy.
The 24-year-old introduced ‘the dab’ in January 2016 when he scored at Newcastle.
He has retired that craze in favour of Sunday’s ‘Irish jig’ style celebration after scoring his scorcher at Middlesbrough in the 3-1 win.
He has also been pictured in Instagram videos practising new routines with team-mate Paul Pogba.
Lingard’s goal reactions have split United fans with some giving him flak and urging him to concentrate on his football. But the Warringtonborn forward insists he is not concerned about the criticism.
“I think in sport you’ve just got to do what makes you happy,” said Lingard.
“Obviously I enjoyed the moment and when you score it is a big thing, so you’ve got to take it in your stride.”
Is he aware it rubs some supporters up the wrong way?
“No, not really,” he added. “I don’t really look on social media too much and what people write. You’ve got to perform for your club and if you make the manager happy, then that’s the most important thing.
“He (Jose Mourinho) just wants us to be happy. I think football makes you happy and you’ve got to enjoy it.”
Lingard revealed his celebration was inspired by rap artist Drake.
“There’s a new album which has just dropped - Drake’s - and it’s one of his songs and I promised my mate I’d do that celebration if I scored, so I did that,” he said.
Lingard is building up a reputation for scoring spectacular goals for United.
His Middlesbrough hit follows classic strikes in the FA Cup final last May against Crystal Palace and against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last season.
And he plans to keep on buying a raffle ticket.
“You know if you don’t shoot, you don’t score,” he added.
“We have started taking it upon ourselves to shoot outside the box and see what happens.”
Lingard believes United had the right combination of pace and power against Boro.
He added: “We had a lot of pace up front with me, Marcus and Antonio, but we had the ball players in midfield like Marouane and Carrick to dictate the play, so it was an all round good game for us. “Obviously I always play well with Marcus. He’s come in against Boro and put a shift in for the team, he was a nuisance up front and it was good playing with him. “I was looking for the pass and there weren’t many options on at the moment so I took it on myself and, luckily, it went in.” Marouane Fellaini netted in the Premier League for the first time since December 2015 to keep up his good form after excelling in the midweek win over Rostov. “It’s always a pleasure to score a goal, it was a great ball from Ash and I tried to finish one, it was a good goal,” he explained. “It was tough in the end, they pushed, they played the long balls, they are physical presence but that’s okay, we dealt with it, we had lots of defenders and we did it well.” Jesse Lingard