The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Manchester United

  • Man U draw Rostov in Europa last-16

    Man U draw Rostov in Europa last-16

     

     

     

    Manchester United have been drawn against Rostov in the Europa League last 16.

    United advanced to the last-16 stage with a comfortable 4-0 aggregate victory against St Etienne in the first knockout round, having come through their group as runners-up.

    The two legs will take place on March 9 and March 16. Jose Mourinho’s team face a brutal trip to Russia for the first leg only four days before they play Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-final.

    United’s players and staff will have to make a 3,744-mile round trip to Rostov for the game on March 9.

    The outcome of the draw is a nightmare for manager Mourinho, who complained about fixture congestion following their win in France.

    He said on Wednesday: ‘I feel really surprised that the decision is made before our draw in Europe because at this moment nobody knows where we play, where the first and second matches are.

    ‘Imagine if we play Chelsea on the Monday and go to the match in Europe in Russia, Turkey or Greece?

    ‘I think once more the interests are going in front of the clubs and English football’s interests, and nobody cares about it.’

    Rostov qualified for the Europa League after finishing second in last season’s Russian Premier League before coming third in a Champions League group that also contained Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich.

    Last-16 Draw in Full   

    Celta Vigo vs Krasnodar

    APOEL vs Anderlecht

    Schalke vs Borussia Monchengladbach

    Lyon vs Roma

    Rostov vs Manchester United

    Olympiacos vs Besiktas

    Gent vs Genk

    Copenhagen vs Ajax

  • EFL Cup: Man United beat Hull City to setup Southampton final

    EFL Cup: Man United beat Hull City to setup Southampton final

    Manchester United have qualified for the final of the EFL Cup final despite falling to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Hull City in the second leg of their semi-final at the KC Stadium.

    Goals from Tom Huddlestone and Oumar Niasse either side of a Paul Pogba strike saw the Tigers pick up their first win over United since 1974, but it wasn’t enough to overturn the 2-0 deficit from the first leg at Old Trafford as Jose Mourinho’s side won 3-2 on aggregate.

    The opener came from the spot after Jonathan Moss controversially adjudged Rojo to have tugged the shirt of Maguire from a corner, allowing Huddlestone to step up and bury his inch-perfect penalty into the bottom corner.

    However, the Red Devils equaliser came from nothing as Huddlestone’s attempts to track Marcus Rashford down the left channel only saw him divert the ball into a dangerous area, and Pogba reacted quickest to poke his finish into the bottom corner.

    With five minutes remaining the hosts cut the aggregate deficit back to just one goal with a simple finish from Baye Oumar Niasse at the back post after David Meyler had turned Markovic’s diagonal ball back across the six-yard box.

    The game ended with Hull City beating Manchester United 2-1 on the night but they qualified on a 3-2 aggregate and will play Southampton in the final at Wembley.

  • Mourinho hopes to celebrate 54th birthday with a win

    Mourinho hopes to celebrate 54th birthday with a win

     
    Manchester United Coach, Jose Mourinho hopes that Manchester United will be in their first EFL

    Cup final in seven years should they dispense of Hull City on his 54th birthday as he wishes to take

    home his fourth League Cup

    Meanwhile, Manchester United have close to a full squad available for the second leg of their

    EFL Cup semi-final against Hull this night as United are on course to secure a place in

    February’s showpiece at Wembley, where they would play Southampton, after beating Hull 2-0 in

    the first leg of their semi-final a fortnight ago.

    Mourinho is however more focused at being in the finals. This he revealed in an interview:

    “I have a special feeling for every competition,” he said. “Every club should enjoy being in big matches, in finals. It doesn’t matter how many titles the club won before.

    “I think we should be really focused on trying to go to the final. It’s Wembley, it’s a title, it’s an occasion for a demonstration of love for the club with 30-40,000 fans travelling to London. I would like to go to the final,” Mourinho stated.

  • Man United to employ counter-terrorism officer

    Man United to employ counter-terrorism officer

     

    Manchester United believe they have become the first sports club in England  to have a full-time counter-terrorism manager.

    The appointment was revealed at a recent fans’ forum, and Press Association Sport reported that the role would be filled by a former inspector from the specialist search unit at Greater Manchester Police.

    The development comes at a time when security at Old Trafford is under increased scrutiny.

    United saw the final match of the 2015-16 season against Bournemouth called off after what turned out to be a fake bomb, left behind following a training exercise, was found in a toilet.

    There was another incident in November when two individuals managed to break off from a stadium tour and stay at Old Trafford overnight ahead of the match with Arsenal.

    On the whole, security has been beefed up around the club since the Paris attacks in November 2015 when the Stade de France was targeted as 130 people were killed throughout the city.

    Vehicles are now routinely checked as they enter the premises, while individuals heading into the stadium are searched.

    More security supervisors have been deployed after fans complained about the time it took for searches at turnstiles.

  • Rooney equals Charlton’s Man United scoring record

    Rooney equals Charlton’s Man United scoring record

    England captain, Wayne Rooney, has moved level with Sir Bobby Charlton as Manchester United’s all-time leading goalscorer.

    The 31-year-old’s FA Cup strike against Reading on Saturday took him to 249 in 543 games, reaching the landmark 215 matches and four seasons quicker than Charlton, the BBC reports.

    The record had stood since 1973 but Rooney now seems certain to beat it.

    In 2015, Rooney surpassed World Cup winner Charlton’s England scoring record of 49 goals and has since taken his tally to 53.

    The United landmark comes during a season in which the he has been left out of the starting line-up for both club and country, his record-equalling goal being just his fourth of the campaign.

  • Soccer: Pogba faces brother as Man United battle St Etienne

    Soccer: Pogba faces brother as Man United battle St Etienne

    Family ties will be set aside, as Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba could face his brother Florentin after the Jose Mourinho’s side were drawn against St Etienne in the Europa League round of 32, a tie which will also stir memories of the dark days of hooliganism in the 1970s.

    The sides met in the old European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1977-78 but the first leg in St Etienne was marred by violence involving United supporters.

    The English side was kicked out of the competition by UEFA but was reinstated on appeal and ordered to play their home leg outside Manchester, choosing to stage the game in Plymouth in south-west England.

    They won the match 2-0 to go through 3-1 on aggregate.

    Florentin Pogba, a Guinean international, is a defender for St Etienne although he has only been picked
    intermittently this season.

    His brother Paul, who plays for France, joined United from Juventus in the close season for a world record fee.

    Borussia Moenchengladbach and Fiorentina, two of the most familiar names in European club football, will meet for the first time.

    AS Roma, the only other Serie A team left in the competition after Inter Milan and Sassuolo failed to get past the group stage, are involved in another high-profile match against Spain’s Villarreal.

    Israel’s Hapoel Beer Sheva, who beat Inter during the group stage, were rewarded with a tie against Besiktas, one of eight teams parachuting in from the Champions League.

    Two of the other top ties pitted AZ Alkmaar against Olympique Lyonnais and PAOK against Schalke, a repeat of their Champions League playoff tie in 2013-14 which the Bundesliga side edged 4-3 on aggregate.

  • Mourinho, Wenger in painful no-look handshake

    Mourinho, Wenger in painful no-look handshake

    Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was back on the touchline for Saturday’s lunchtime clash with Arsenal, and the Portuguese gave his old foe Arsene Wenger a frosty handshake prior to kick-off.

    Mourinho, who served a one-match ban following two FA charges in the victory over Swansea prior to the international break, did not exchange glances with the Frenchman at Old Trafford despite sticking to the FA’s protocol on pre-match handshakes.

    The Portuguese enjoyed uninterrupted success over Arsenal during his time with Chelsea, heading into the clash with his old adversary unbeaten in 13 games, winning seven of them.

    Wenger is clearly sick of the sight of Mourinho, with the Arsenal boss yet to conquer his Portuguese nemesis in competitive action, 12 and a half years after their first encounter.

    And there was clearly no love lost despite the change in club, after Wenger took a subtle dig at Mourinho’s playing style in the build up to the encounter, claiming viewers will tune in elsewhere if the game fails to live up to its billing.

    However, a late equaliser from Olivier Giroud has earned the Gunners an unlikely 1-1 draw with Manchester United.

    United were in control for much of the 90 minutes and deservedly led through a Juan Mata effort but in the 89th minute, substitute Giroud levelled for the Gunners as they extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 11 games.

     

  • Wenger gets more respect than me – Mourinho

    Wenger gets more respect than me – Mourinho

    Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho believes old foe Arsene Wenger is given more respect than him.

    The pair’s relationship on the touchlines and away from it has been an intriguing one over the years, with the spotlight returning to the duo ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash between United and Arsenal.

    Mourinho, who has lost only one of 15 previous meetings with Wenger, labelled the Frenchman a “specialist in failure” in early 2014, but there were no such inflammatory remarks on Friday. The Portuguese does clearly feel though that he is afforded less respect than a manager who last won the Premier League in 2004.

    “The records against any other manager being good or bad is not important,” Mourinho said.

    “For me, the only thing that matters is what you get globally as a team. Our team’s results, our CV, if you want to go to that direction.

    “In the Premier League, tomorrow is a match between the two managers with the best record in the Premier League.

    “Sir Alex Ferguson isn’t here anymore. Tomorrow, I think between the two managers we are speaking about, I think (we have) six or seven Premier League titles (between us). I have three, he has three or four.

    “Does that mean we should be respected, even in periods where our results are not the best? I think Mr Wenger has that respect from all of you, I don’t think I have, especially because my last Premier League title was 18 months ago, not 18 years ago.

    “I don’t think I get that respect. But to be honest, I just follow my way because I want to win a ninth championship and I want to win a fourth Premier League.”

     

     

  • Swansea 1-3 Man United: Red Devils destroy Swans

    Swansea 1-3 Man United: Red Devils destroy Swans

    A brace from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a goal from Paul Pogba helped Manchester United return to winning ways in the Premier League courtesy of a 3-1 victory over struggling Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.

    Jose Mourinho made six changes to the side beaten by Fenerbahce in midweek, but the manager was forced to watch on from the stands as he served his one-match touchline ban after being sent off against Burnley last weekend.

    It was one of the five to keep their place that almost gave United a lead after less than two minutes when Wayne Rooney – now just two goals short of Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time record for the club – curled an early effort narrowly past the far post.

    Paul Pogba broke the deadlock for the visitors before a brace from Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent them into the halfway stage with a deservedly convincing lead, and they held out despite a Mike van der Hoorn consolation to condemn Swansea to a 10th straight Premier League match without a win.

    It is now 10 league games without a win since the opening day of the season for Swansea and just one point from a possible 12 in charge for Bradley ahead of their meeting with Everton after the international break.

    With this win Manchester United have avoid making their worst start to a Premier League campaign courtesy of the victory, climbing up to  sixth in the Premier League table with their first away league win since August.

  • Victor Moses is sensational – Phil Neville

    Victor Moses is sensational – Phil Neville

    Manchester United legend Phil Neville has described Super Eagles winger Victor Moses as a sensational player following his recent form for Chelsea in the premier league.

    The 25-year-old has been a super regular for the London outfit as new Blues manager Antonio Conte has converted him to a wing-back this season.

    With the Nigerian playing a key role Chelsea went through the month of October winning all their premier league fixtures without conceding a goal and that resulted in the Italian being nominated for his first manager of the month award in England.

    “Since Conte switched to the 3-4-3 formation, Victor Moses has been sensational for Chelsea and has helped freed up the likes of Eden Hazard, William, and Diego Costa,” Neville said.

    The form of Moses will gladden the heart of Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr who will hope he replicates it for the national team when they square up against Algeria on November 12 in the 2018 World Cup qualifier.