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Mourinho explains Mkhitaryan omission

Manchester United came from behind to pull off an emphatic 4-1 thrashing of Newcastle United at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Saturday.

Dwight Gayle had given the visitors the lead inside the opening 15 minutes following Victor Lindelof’s slip inside the penalty area.

However, we recovered to take complete control of the game, leading 2-1 at half-time thanks to close range headers from Anthony Martial and Chris Smalling, set up by excellent assists from Paul Pogba and Ashley Young respectively.

Making his first appearance since suffering a hamstring injury nearly two months ago, Pogba ensured Jose Mourinho’s side were picking up three points 10 minutes into the second half when he side-footed home from close range following Marcus Rashford’s knock down.

Romelu Lukaku ended his seven-game drought without a goal with a powerful effort 20 minutes from time following a nice one-two with Juan Mata, to wrap up a comfortable victory.

Speaking to BT Sport, Jose Mourinho explained that Henrikh Mkhitaryan had been left out of our matchday squad as a ‘tactical decision’.

Juan Mata had started in the number 10 role before the boss switched his tactics around to play the Spaniard on the right wing and Marcus Rashford through the middle to great effect.

Marouane Fellaini and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were both introduced in the second half; two players capable of playing the number 10 role that Mkhitaryan usually plays for us.

The Armenian had a busy international break, scoring in victories against both Belarus and Cyprus, so potentially he was getting a breather also.

We are back in action on Wednesday night when we travel to FC Basel in the Champions League, a game in which perhaps Mkhitaryan will get his recall to the starting XI.

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