MOURINHO DOESN’T MIND GAP

HENRIKH MKHITARYAN was last night hailed as ‘phenomenal’ by Jose Mourinho, who insisted he does not care that closing the gap with Chelsea appears impossible. Although offside, Mkhitaryan claimed his backheeled volley was the best goal he has ever scored as Manchester United comfortably beat Sunderland. United, however, did not make up any ground on leaders Chelsea, who remain 13 points clear of their old boss. ‘I don’t care, honestly,’ said Mourinho. ‘I care about the way we play and about our results. What happens, happens.’ Mkhitaryan returned from an ankle injury to add gloss late on. And Mourinho, who suggested Zlatan Ibrahimovic will pen a new one-year contract, said: ‘Henrikh scored at the Stretford End, with the people very enthusiastic behind there. It was a great moment and very important for him. He was going up and up and then the injury comes. He also brought quality with his performance.’ David Moyes was not afforded any sort of reception — negative or positive — by United fans on his first game back in the Old Trafford dugout. ‘I thought it was fine,’ said the Sunderland boss. ‘United supporters are knowledgeable. They’ve seen some good teams and bad teams. Most of them were very good.’ Meanwhile, Mourinho rubbished claims he is unhappy in Manchester and insisted he does not envisage living in the Lowry Hotel for the entirety of his tenure. ‘I don’t go to cities to enjoy cities, I go to work,’ he said in an interview with fanzine United We Stand. ‘If I wanted to enjoy places, I would go to Los Angeles and go to the beach every day. ‘To give people this idea I’m not happy here but that I was happy in London... it’s bull **** . ‘My family are in London because my daughter is at university. My son plays for Fulham.’