Jose Mourinho explains why he substituted Henrikh Mkhitaryan against Rostov

Manchester United Football Club earned a 1-1 draw away in Russia last night. The game itself was a real struggle to watch from a fan point of view, and that certainly wasn’t helped by the state of the pitch. All things considered, taking an away goal back to Old Trafford could be vital.

Our hopes were certainly boosted when Henrikh Mkhitaryan was named in the starting line-up after missing a couple of games previous with an injury. Having him back is so important because he is a guy that makes us tick. His presence was felt in the first half as he scored our sole goal of the match; his seventh of the campaign.

Jose Mourinho definitely seemed pleased with how things turned out, and our boss was asked exactly why our star Armenian didn’t play for the full ninety minutes.

“We know that he cannot play 90 minutes,” Mourinho is quoted as saying by the Daily Express. “We knew he was going to play 60 minutes no matter the result.”

“We make that decision together because he was not in best condition and gave him a chance to play attacking positions with Zlatan and possibility to score goal.”


“He did his job well and managed to finish the game without injury which is important for us.”

I guess this was always inevitable. In my opinion, it was a risk starting him in the first place due to the state of the pitch. However, it was brilliant seeing him in action once again.

The hour that he did play for would have done him the world of good, particularly with Chelsea away on the horizon. I’d love for him to start in the Stamford Bridge clash on Monday night, but playing two games so close together after coming back from an injury may be a struggle. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

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About Jordan Street 18881 Articles
Mancunian. Red through and through. Season Ticket holder block E332.

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