UNITED KIDS SHINE BUT MOURINHO SLIPS AWAY IN A SULK

ON A day when it was all about the spirit of youth at Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho again demonstrated a knack for behaving rather childishly when the mood takes him. Having given four kids their full Premier League debut in a team with an average age of 22 years and 284 days, Mourinho was rewarded with a handsome win. Here was an opportunity to salute a wonderful goal by Josh Harrop or a fine second-half save from Joel Pereira. The energy of Demetri Mitchell and midfield presence of Scott McTominay. Or perhaps to pay tribute to Wayne Rooney on what was almost certainly his Premier League farewell as a United player after 13 years. Instead, the manager managed to draw attention to himself. He was conspicuous by his absence from the traditional lap of appreciation to the fans. Mourinho slipped away through the tunnel and left Old Trafford within 25 minutes of the final whistle. There was no interview for TV and the post-match conference room was practically empty when he breezed in and out again without any of those gathered asking a single question. United’s in-house television station managed to intercept Mourinho for all of 17 seconds. ‘Let me go home, I am in a final now,’ he said with a smile before leaving to prepare for the Europa League decider against Ajax on Wednesday. He had, in theory, fulfilled his media commitments by showing up. But he used his match programme notes to take aim at the pundits — notably Graeme Souness — for not giving United more respect for battling through a 64-game season. ‘It’s not my fault if their managerial career was very poor,’ was the surly putdown. In contrast, Rooney saluted all four corners of the ground when he came off in the 88th minute. He will be back for Michael Carrick’s testimonial next month but that will surely be it. In what felt like a symbolic moment, Rooney was replaced by Angel Gomes who, at 16 years and 263 days old, became United’s youngest debutant since Dave Gaskell 61 years ago. Harrop marked his big day with a superb solo goal in 15 minutes after a pass from Paul Pogba. The Frenchman added a second four minutes later — only his fifth league goal of the season.