Suffering acute frustration at what he saw as the referee Mike Jones permitting Hull City to break up the game’s rhythm and generally stop Manchester United from getting the victory they so desperately needed.
They have seen enough mediocrity over the last three seasons at Old Trafford and for long periods, until a high-octane finish, the atmosphere was as flat as the football.
He unleashed the best United side he had at his Portuguese compatriot Marco Silva, the smart young manager who is putting the fight into Hull’s relegation battle. To his credit, Mourinho was generous about Silva. He will feel less charitable about his own players and there was no time to ask the United manager why it was substitute Anthony Martial did not emerge for the pre-match warm-up.
Mourinho tried to shake his team up at half-time, bringing on Wayne Rooney for Michael Carrick and moving Paul Pogba further back into the midfield after a poor first half. He lost Phil Jones to injury and had to bring on Chris Smalling. He brought Juan Mata on ahead of Martial in the closing stages, and the Spain international had the best chance, forcing a good save from Hull’s goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic who had a fine game.
United are five points behind Manchester City and Liverpool who are both on 46 in fourth and fifth and separated by goal difference and the game against Leicester on Sunday is critical. As for Hull, they go above Sunderland into 19thposition and, having beaten United in the EFL Cup semi-final second leg, seemed to have the measure of this Mourinho team.
Indeed if there was to be a winner then the best chance fell to Hull’s on-loan winger Lazar Markovic who struck the post with four minutes left after Tom Huddlestone had picked out his team-mate with the kind of simple clean pass he had been hitting all night. The English midfielder along with the likes of Harry Maguire, Andy Robertson and Sam Clucas were excellent and while they were on the back foot, they never lost their focus.
Silva seems to have won the trust of his most experienced players and Huddlestone in particular is having a barnstorming month. At one point in the first half, under pressure in his own area and facing towards goal he languidly executed a 180 degree turn and glided away from trouble, which was symbolic of the kind of composure he showed all night.
Certainly, as in the game the previous week, Huddlestone had a better game than Pogba. He should have scored in the first half when Zlatan Ibrahimovic flicked Carrick’s pass into the path of the Frenchman and he could not beat Jakupovic with his left-footed shot. You could tell what Mourinho thought of the first half just by the fact that had already reached the mouth of the tunnel by the time the whistle blew.
Rooney, Smalling and then Mata came on, the latter in in place of Henrikh Mkhitaryan who had gone into his shell again. After Jakupovic’s save from Mata’s backpost shot it started to get desperate for United. Ibrahimovic made an unconvincing attempt to convince the referee that Huddlestone had fouled him in the penalty area and was ignored.
Manchester United failed to beat Hull for the second time in six days as their Champions League hopes took another hit at Old Trafford. Mourinho had said himself that, after two straight draws, this was the game United must take three points from to remain competitive in the hunt for the Champions League places. Yet they could not break down a side who began the night at the bottom of the Premier League table.
Jose Mourinho watched his side draw for the ninth time in the Premier League this season as they failed to find a way past Hull’s shot stopper Eldin Jakupovic.
The home side had the better of the chances but neither Zalatan Ibrahimovic or Paul Pogba could beat the Swiss international..
With Tottenham, Chelsea, and Arsenal all dropping points last night this was an opportunity for United to deliver a statement of intent.
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