Retreat to last season and United might have wilted, shipping an equaliser to record another of those horribly wasteful and familiar score draws. As it is they are four points better off than at the same stage last season having demonstrated they can scintillate or grind out results dependent upon the occasion. The weather was beautiful and even if you train at 11am, 12pm or 3pm in Manchester we don’t get this weather. Mourinho, sent to the stands against Burnley and West Ham last season, could offer no explanation for his own dismissal. He was barely more forthcoming on the travelling support’s insistence on airing that infamous Romelu Lukaku chant once again, following it up with “We’re Man United, we’ll sing what we want”.

Source: The Guardian September 23, 2017 16:11 UTC