Pogba pounces to spare Jose blushes
THIS could be the day when Manchester United emerged from the giant shadow left by Sir Alex Ferguson.
Trailing to a shock goal from Grant Leadbitter and denied by the woodwork, a bad decision and some inspired goalkeeping, they were on course for an unexpected loss.
But the French connection of Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba turned it around to spark delirium inside Old Trafford.
It was a sixth straight win for Mourinho’s United, but more importantly, this felt like a victory from the glory days of Sir Alex Ferguson.
And the Portuguese manager admitted afterwards it was the right way to mark the Scot’s 75th birthday.
“I wished him Happy Birthday before the match, but the way we played was a great tribute,” he said. “And it was a big victory for us.
“The fans are loving the way we play. Sometimes the results are good, sometimes not so good. But they love the way we try to play football.
“I don’t think they would have killed me if we had lost 2-0 by playing two against two at the back because we are a very positive team.”
It was a first meeting between Mourinho and his trusty lieutenant from his three-year spell at Real Madrid and Aitor Karanka was philosophical after the game slipped away from his side.
“Our performance against a really top team was very good,” he admitted. “If we play like
this, we will win games against teams fighting to stay in the League.
“I was really pleased with the players. They have to forget the result because they should be really proud of the performance.”
With more games to come tomorrow – United away to West Ham at tea- time and Boro facing Leicester at lunchtime – it was understandable that both managers made five changes from their Boxing Day line-ups.
The visitors had a glorious chance to take the lead inside the first three minutes as the returning Adama Traore led a counter attack from inside his own half.
He carried the ball all the way into the United area, but with two men free either side of him, he chose to shoot and poked his effort horribly wide. United were closer to breaking the deadlock as Pogba struck the post with an athletic bicycle kick but there was a sense of disbelief when Zlatan Ibrahimovic was denied a perfectly-good goal.
Seconds earlier, Martial had rattled a post with a thumping shot from 30 yards, before the Frenchman provided the cross for Ibrahimovic to score with a karatekick finish.
Yet, just as the Swede was celebrating, Lee Mason disallowed the effort, adjudging the striker to have been guilty of a high foot, and a 51st goal of 2016 was chalked off.
It left his manager was furious on the touchline and sympathetic afterwards.
“It should have been 1-0 at half-time with a beautiful goal,” he rued.
“It would have meant Zlatan and Lionel being the two top scorers in European football in 2016.
“It was frustrating for such an amazing player to just miss out being level with Messi.”
It only looked a matter of time before United would score, yet they were stunned when they fell behind midway through the second half.
Calum Chambers’ cross was nodded down by Alvaro Negredo into the path of Leadbitter, who drove it expertly past David De Gea for his first Premier League goal since March 2009.
It sparked a cavalry charge on the Boro goal and Valdes kept out Ibrahimovic, substitute Marcus Rashford and then Martial.
But just as time was beginning to slip away, two goals in 80 seconds turned the outcome upside down.
First Ibrahimovic cushioned a header into Martial’s path and he finally ended Valdes’ resistance.
Then with the Boro defence struggling to clear their lines, sub Juan Mata stood up a cross which Pogba powered into the net with an unstoppable header.
United are now just a point outside the top four, and with the prospect of a much better year on the horizon.