NO DAYS OFF AT RANGERS AS THEIR TOP STARS PUT IN THE HOURS
Mourinho slams side’s attitude as Lampard’s Derby win in shoot-out
JOSE MOurinhO complained about Manchester united’s attitude after they lurched into further crisis last night with defeat by Derby.
Mourinho’s side were dumped out of the Carabao Cup, going down 8-7 on penalties after drawing 2-2 in 90 minutes against his former Chelsea star Frank Lampard’s Championship high-fliers.
The Portuguese claimed he wasn’t criticising his team after they surrendered a 1-0 lead, but said: ‘We didn’t kill it in the first half but we could have. At halftime, i repeated the words i said in the last match: “Their dressing room is a dressing room with belief and we need to go and kill the game,” which we didn’t.’
Juan Mata gave united a thirdminute lead but harry Wilson levelled with a spectacular 30-yard free kick in the 59th minute. united goalkeeper Sergio romero was then sent off for handball and Jack Marriott looked to have put Derby through five minutes from time.
Marouane Fellaini levelled deep in stoppage time but Derby won the shootout when Phil Jones missed from the spot.
‘The truth is the opponent in the second half started better than us. We (only) responded at 1-1,’ said Mourinho.
‘After the red card, we are in difficulty but even after that, we have a group that tried until the last second. The penalties, somebody has to miss. Going after the sixth and seventh, i knew we would be in trouble with Jones and Eric (Bailly).’
Lampard, just three months into his managerial career, rated the result among some of his finest achievements in the game. ‘it’s right up there,’ the Derby manager said. ‘To come to Old Trafford, go against Jose Mourinho and world-class players and play the way they played, it was immense. i’m just a proud manager tonight. ’ Lampard hailed Wilson, on loan from Liverpool, and paid tribute to his team for sticking to their attacking principles. ‘We played without fear,’ he said. ‘We didn’t sit back, kept trying to play. We had the confidence to play like that. ‘i’m delighted for harry. Mason (Mount) has been getting plaudits but harry’s been injured. The free-kick was a mix of quality and hard work.’ Lampard enjoyed famous victories alongside Mourinho at Chelsea, but few can have tasted as sweet as this. As keeper Scott Carson lunged to his left to smother Jones’s weak penalty, he pumped his arms in jubilation on the touchline. Yards away, Mourinho hung his head and contemplated the latest setback of an increasingly dismal season. Eight points adrift in the league, united are now out of the Carabao Cup.
up in the stands, Paul Pogba tried to hide under a white hoodie as the drama unfolded. rested for the night, would he have made a difference? Possibly, but Mourinho had enough big guns to get the job done.
united thought they had salvaged this third-round tie, but, with extra time no longer required in this competition and the two teams level in the shoot-out after scoring each of their first seven attempts, Andy Keogh converted for Derby and Jones failed for united. it was the fifth time in a row united have lost a penalty shoot-out.
A Derby win had seemed unlikely when Mata fired united ahead inside three minutes.
it followed a sweeping move down the left in which Anthony Martial took the ball down with a fine touch and played it across goal. romelu Lukaku tricked the Derby defence with a stepover and Jesse Lingard fed a pass to Mata who converted.
Derby’s best effort came from Mason Bennett, denied by romero at the far post. But they were in more purposeful mood in the second 45 and Wilson equalised with a stunning freekick after Ashley Young’s foul.
united were then dealt another blow in the 67th minute when romero was sent off.
Stuart Attwell had little choice but to show a straight red as Wilson chased a through ball from David nugent and touched it past the keeper as he raced out.
romero instinctively stuck out his left arm to block and knew immediately what he had done. ‘There’s only one Lee Grant,’ sang the Derby fans as their ex-keeper came on as united’s replacement. he was powerless to stop Derby’s second goal.
Mount’s shot brought a fine save from Grant but sub Marriott stole in from an onside position to head home.
Fellaini dispossessed Bradley Johnson in stoppage time and the ball was fed wide to Diogo Dalot on his home debut. his cross found Fellaini charging into the box and the Belgian buried a header past Carson.
So to penalties. neither side blinked through 15 attempts. Then Jones erred, Lampard celebrated and Mourinho headed for another inquest.