‘Idiotic’ Fellaini let Mourinho down – Neville

Joe Williams

Gary Neville thinks Jose Mourinho made the right decision tactically to bring on Marouane Fellaini against Everton but feels the Manchester United boss was let down by his player.

The Belgian midfielder came off the bench late on to try and help see out a win but just two minutes after entering play he conceded a penalty with a clumsy challenge on Idrissa Gueye.

Leighton Baines scored the penalty to snatch a 1-1 draw for Everton and leave the Red Devils nine points off the Champions League places in sixth place.

And Neville reckons Mourinho introduced Fellaini “for all the right reasons” but slammed the 29-year-old’s contribution.

“It was just purely to deal with the long ball in the box, the balls up to [Romelu] Lukaku, the crosses that Everton always put in with 10-15 minutes to go,” Neville explained.

“You can see the sense completely behind the substitution from the management point of view, but when he goes on and does such an idiotic thing like that… its just really poor from Fellaini such an experienced player.

“He played here before, he knows the ground, and he knows the crowd, it’s just a poor moment, an individual moment, it’s no reflection on the manager.

“He made the substitution for the right reasons and he’s been let down by his player.”