Wayne Rooney did not break the goalscoring record, but Manchester United got the goals they wanted to take a comfortable lead into the second leg of the EFL Cup semifinals against Hull City on Tuesday.
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Playing the first leg at home, Jose Mourinho would have wanted his side to keep a clean sheet and ensure there was a good lead to take to the KCOM Stadium and that is precisely what his players gave him with Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini scoring in the second half in a 2-0 victory.
Starting a second consecutive game, Rooney could not score his 250th goal for Manchester United to go above Sir Bobby Charlton, but this was a game that Manchester United dominated from the beginning, with only one result looking likely – a ninth consecutive win in all competitions.
The only worry for Manchester United would have been the fact that they did not find the opening goal and eventually put the game to bed earlier. Despite bossing the first half, the opener just wouldn't come, but Mourinho would have told his players to remain patient, knowing the first goal was around the corner.
It corner was turned in the 56th minute when Mata ghosted in at the far post to turn in a header from Henrikh Mkhitaryan off a cross from Antonio Valencia. And when Fellaini headed home off a cross from Matteo Darmian on 87 minutes, it was a job well done for Manchester United.
"I was expecting a difficult match, I was not expecting to win by four or five," Mourinho said. "A 1-0 for me would always be a good result, but 2-0 is better. It doesn't end the semifinal, we are not at Wembley, but the second goal is maybe the important goal."
Fellaini ran up to Mourinho to celebrate after scoring the second goal and the Manchester United manager believes it was a well-deserved strike for a player who has copped a lot of criticism from the fans since making his move to Old Trafford.
"I think he wanted to show that he knows how much I supported him in a couple of difficult moments for him," Mourinho added. "It was probably because I told him you are going to score the second goal, I don't know. It was nice for him to score in front of the fans and the second goal that can be an important goal."
