Football
Rob Dawson, Correspondent 6y

Marouane Fellaini 'fantastic' vs. Chelsea after injury - Jose Mourinho

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has branded Marouane Fellaini "fantastic" after the midfielder rushed back from injury to play against Chelsea on Sunday.

Fellaini missed six games after suffering strained knee ligaments playing for Belgium last month.

He only returned to training 24 hours before United's trip to Stamford Bridge and played the final 30 minutes of the 1-0 defeat.

Mourinho told reporters afterwards: "I have to say that Fellaini was fantastic for me, for his fellow players, for the fans, for the team, for the club because he was injured [for] weeks.

"He trained on Saturday for the first time with the team, and he put himself on the line ready to come in and help if the team needed him.

"So [I'm] really, really pleased. I don't want to let it go blank, that word with him."

The defeat to Chelsea was just United's second of the season in the Premier League and it extended Mourinho's winless run away from home against the top six to seven games.

But after Mourinho faced criticism for his approach during the 0-0 draw with Liverpool at Anfield last month, Ander Herrera insisted United had tried to win at Stamford Bridge.

And the midfielder admitted a poor period after half-time, during which Alvaro Morata scored Chelsea's winner, had cost them the game.

He told MUTV: "It's disappointing for us because we came here to win, we pressed them and we created a couple of good chances in the first half.

"They did as well because they are a good team, but we had very good chances in the first half to score, and also in the second half with a couple of good shots from Fellaini and [Marcus] Rashford.

"They started better than us in the second half but that can happen in football. In the first 10, 15 minutes they played better in the second half but we played better in the first half."

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