Fenerbahce 2, Manchester United 1: Jose Mourinho fumes at lazy and complacent United as they lose for the fifth time in 13 games
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho accused his team of being lazy and complacent after Europa League defeat at Fenerbahce capped a miserable week for the under-pressure boss.
Forward Moussa Sow’s dazzling overhead kick rocked United in the second minute and an exquisite free-kick from former Sunderland winger Jeremain Lens doubled the hosts’ advantage after half-time.
United captain Wayne Rooney’s rasping first goal in 15 games came far too late for the visitors, who need to beat Feyenoord next to maintain realistic hopes of avoiding an embarrassing elimination.
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It compounded a difficult few days for Mourinho, who was sent off during the draw at home to Burnley on Saturday, incurring a one-match touchline ban, and saw world record signing Paul Pogba limp off last night.
He said: “I think they [Fenerbahce] deserved to win. Football is not just about quality, it’s also about effort, commitment, play at the limits, give everything. So I think they deserve.
“A team that concedes a goal after two minutes is a team that is not ready – not mentally prepared, not focused, not concentrated.
“In an atmosphere like this, to give an advantage to the opponent, then the opponent is where they want to be.
“Then they defend, counter-attack, stop the game, simulate free-kicks, put pressure on the referee, win lots of times with injuries. But it’s their game.
“Probably we could get a different result but I think we didn’t deserve more. Football is 90 minutes and is to be played in the maximum of you desire, of capacity, of concentration. So I think they deserve.
“First of all our problems started in our global attitude. They were playing the Champions League final and we were playing a summer friendly. That is the reality of the way the game started.”
United were reeling just seconds into the game when Sow acrobatically fashioned a hooked overhead kick from a whipped left-wing cross and it sailed over goalkeeper David de Gea.
Rooney wasted a chance to equalise when he mis-controlled an Anthony Martial through-ball, while keeper Volkan Demirel’s interception prevented Zlatan Ibrahimovic converting Marcus Rashford’s low cross.
De Gea was beaten again on 59 minutes by Lens’s set-piece, and the Spain international kept United in the contest by denying former West Ham loanee Emmanuel Emenike at close quarters moments later.
Rooney vented his frustration with a thunderous, rising 25-yard shot just a minute from time but United succumbed to a fifth defeat from their last 13 matches.