Mourinho bemoans a lack of ‘mad dogs’

It seemingly needs a sleepy start to a game to jolt Manchester United’s players into action these days. Their latest stirring comeback came at Southampton yesterday.

Trailing 2-0 after 20 minutes against a team without a victory in three months, United recovered to draw 2-2 for a result that leaves Jose Mourinho’s side 16 points off the lead in the English Premier League after just 14 games.

That lead was extended by Manchester City, which beat Bournemouth 3-1 at home to go five points clear of second-placed Liverpool, who hosted Everton this morning.

Mourinho joked recently that United’s slow starts are causing his hair to turn white. There was the 3-2 win over Newcastle in early October from 2-0 down after 10 minutes, which might have saved his job; the 2-1 win at Bournemouth in early November after going behind after 11 minutes; and comebacks, too, against Chelsea and also Juventus in the Champions League.

Yesterday, perhaps it was no surprise United struggled early on, with Mourinho reacting to a crisis at centre back by fielding a back three featuring central midfielders Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay.

“I’m always confident but always doubtful at the same time because we don’t start well many times,” said Mourinho. “[Yesterday], we had a reason for the fragility.”

Mourinho also said United lacked “mad dogs” in midfield to press opponents.

“That’s the people who are aggressive on the ball, fight hard to recover the ball,” he said. “It’s about that appetite, that fire.”

Stuart Armstrong drove home an angled finish for Southampton’s opening goal in the 13th minute, and Cedric Soares curled a free kick into the top corner for 2-0.

Romelu Lukaku ran on to a pass from Marcus Rashford to shoot high into the net in the 33rd minute for his first United goal since September 15. More impressive work from Rashford led to the equaliser, the striker crossing for Ander Herrera to flick in deftly at the near post.

It was no surprise to see Raheem Sterling on the scoresheet for Manchester City. The winger became the first player to score in his first six Premier League appearances against a single opponent when he put City 2-1 up from close range.

Ilkay Gundogan ensured City’s 12th win in 14 league games with his 79th-minute goal. But the champions didn’t find their groove until the final stages, with manager Pep Guardiola’s five changes seeing the team struggle for fluency early on. Bernardo Silva’s 16th-minute goal was City’s only shot on target in the first half and was cancelled out by Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson on the stroke of halftime.

Crystal Palace ended an eightgame winless run by beating third-tolast Burnley 2-0 to move three points clear of the relegation zone.

All White Chris Wood started for Burnley and was substituted after 80 minutes. Burnley had just four shots the entire match — with none on target — compared with Palace’s 29.

Newcastle’s three-match winning run was halted by a 3-0 home loss to West Ham, with Javier Hernandez scoring twice and Felipe Anderson adding a third in injury time.

Brighton responded to conceding a goal after 55 seconds — the earliest strike in the league this season — to win at 10-man Huddersfield 2-1.

James Maddison scored a goal of the season contender a week after being sent off for diving as Leicester City beat Watford 2-0 at home. Jamie Vardy opened the scoring from the penalty spot.