Mourinho relief at home win

JOSE MOURINHO claimed that match-winner Henrikh Mkhitaryan should be back for Manchester United’s festive rush after leaving Old Trafford on a stretcher. Mkhitaryan sustained an ankle injury after Danny Rose cynically hacked him down during the hugely important victory against Tottenham Hotspur. The Armenian had earlier scored the decisive goal to earn a first home Premier League win since September and cut the gap with the top four to six points. Mourinho moved to calm concerns surrounding the severity of Mkhitaryan’s problem, although the £26.3million summer signing is likely to miss the next two matches. ‘It looks like it is nothing dangerous or needing surgery so, hopefully, we will have him back on Boxing Day,’ said Mourinho. Mkhitaryan is set to miss trips to Crystal Palace and West Brom in the coming days but Mourinho was buoyant after finally grinding a result out at home. ‘After so many matches playing well but not winning, we need more the points than the performance,’ he added. ‘But I knew against a team like Tottenham it is difficult to get the result without playing well, so we played well. Very well.’ The Portuguese also accepted that home supporters had their reasons for jeering late substitute Marouane Fellaini. Boos rained down on the Belgian as he was introduced in stoppage-time after a horror cameo away at Everton last weekend. Mourinho said: ‘I accept everything, and especially fans that are giving so much to us without getting so much from us.’