London - Jose Mourinho paid tribute to Henrikh Mkhitaryan for inspiring Manchester United to a victory that he insisted had been coming despite a poor run of results.
United have won just one of their last eight Premier League matches but, after watching his side progress in the Europa League by beating Zorya Luhansk 2-0, Mourinho said United always played well during the poor spell.
"One thing is to play bad and get bad results. That kills confidence and is more difficult to cope with. But when you play well and don’t win matches you always have the hope that good results have to come," he said.
"The reality is that nobody was better than us. We have so many disappointing results but nobody was better than us. That’s the way the players’ brains work, we were always better than our opponents and that plays a part."
Mkhitaryan, who scored the opener with his first United goal last night, admitted on the eve of this game that he has been to blame for his slow start in England. And Mourinho praised the Armenian’s strength of character
"He has strong mentality. He was determined to fight against his difficult adaptation and he’s doing that in the best way," he said.
"If you work really hard physically, and technically, we knew the talent was there. The talent was what we bought, we knew what we were buying. Now he is playing well and the goal means a bit more happiness for him."
Mkhitaryan scored his first ever goal for the Red Devils, putting in another strong performance.
"I think it can be a weight off your shoulders. I’ve been waiting a long time for this goal," he said.
"The next one has to be at Old Trafford — I want to score at home. The most important thing is that we won and are going through to the knockout stage."
Zorya could face action from UEFA after their fans lit a red flare and snatched a banner from United supporters at half-time. They also threw a firecracker at United goalkeeper Sergio Romero.