Mourinho: Wenger did the one thing I ‘never like’

Matt Stead

Jose Mourinho took another swipe at Arsene Wenger and made fun of Arsenal’s fans after Manchester United were beaten 2-0 by the Gunners on Sunday.

Wenger celebrated his first Premier League win over Mourinho at the 13th attempt after goals from Granit Xhaka and Danny Welbeck kept Arsenal’s Champions League qualification hopes alive. You should read 16 Conclusions.

Mourinho said defeat meant it would now be “impossible” for United to finish in the top four, insisting his team’s chances of playing in Europe’s premier competition next season now rest entirely on winning the Europa League.

Eight changes to United’s starting line-up at the Emirates Stadium certainly pointed to Mourinho’s focus on Thursday’s semi-final at home to Celta Vigo, where they hold a 1-0 advantage from the first leg.

But while United chase their second major trophy this term, the Portuguese could not resist another dig at Wenger’s lack of success in recent years.

Asked about Arsenal finally tasting victory against him, Mourinho said: “It’s a big club. You think I enjoy a big club like Arsenal not winning big trophies? I am not enjoying that, honestly.

“But today I tried to win. I didn’t give them the match, I tried to win but we lost. Arsene Wenger is a big manager so to have that record of winning so many matches and losing so many matches is something that is not normal. That is not normal.

“Normal is win, lose, draw. It’s not normal and I really don’t care about it. Today, no problem – we shook hands before the game, we shook hands after the game.

“And during the game I didn’t like what I never like, he puts too much pressure on the fourth official all the time.”