The Sun (Malaysia)

Mkhitaryan, Mata give United boost ahead of Real clash

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A GOAL in either half from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and his replacemen­t Juan Mata helped Manchester United to a 2-1 victory over Sampdoria at Dublin’s Lansdowne Road in the Reds’ final pre-season game yesterday.

Jose Mourinho gave new £40 million (RM220m) signing Nemanja Matic his debut and the former Chelsea man strolled through a comfortabl­e 45 minutes before being replaced by Michael Carrick at the break.

“He needs time but (his) experience, intelligen­ce, a genius in the way he thinks – he thinks football,” Mourinho said.

“We will help him to be ready sooner rather than later.”

As well as Matic, fellow new boys Victor Lindelof and Romelu Lukaku also began the game and Henrikh Mkhitaryan opened the scoring early on with a header at the far post. Sampdoria equalised midway through the second half, with Dennis Praet’s deflected effort outfoxing David De Gea.

The substitute Juan Mata pounced for the winner with 10 minutes left, coolly slotting in from the edge of the penalty area.

Yesterday’s win ensured a positive end to United’s summer and gave them a boost ahead of Tuesday’s European Super Cup clash with Real Madrid in Macedonia.

Mourinho said the club had done a “fantastic job” in delivering three of his desired four summer transfers.

“To get three out of four I thank the club for that. I will be happier if they get me four of four but they did a great effort for me,” he said.

Following the friendly Mourinho also described the two-game ban handed to Phil Jones for a breach of UEFA’s anti-doping regulation­s as “very unfair”.

The defender has been suspended for verbally abusing a doping control officer after being selected for testing following the Europa League final win.

Jones was upset at having to miss out on celebratio­ns and a squad photograph paying tribute to victims of the Manchester terrorist attack.

His manager said the antidoping authoritie­s should have taken into considerat­ion the significan­ce of the occasion and allowed him some time to celebrate with teammates.

“It’s not a normal match, it’s a final, it’s a cup, it’s a medal, it’s the celebratio­n,” said the Portuguese.

Mourinho said he will leave the decision on whether to appeal against the ban to Jones himself, noting that he ran the risk of getting it extended if the appeal failed. – Agencies

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