Jose Mourinho singles out Man United star’s ‘great work’ after 3-1 win at Arsenal
The Man United manager was impressed with Nemanja Matic's dedication to be fit for Saturday's win at Arsenal
Jose Mourinho heaped praise on Nemanja Matic for fighting his way to match fitness in order to help Manchester United ease to a 3-1 win at Arsenal on Saturday evening.
The Serbia international was thought to be a doubt for the Red Devils’ long trip to their title rivals in north London following a problem during their 4-2 win over Watford last week.
However, Matic managed to get himself match fit despite having three days to recover for the Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier Leauge’s late kick-off on Saturday.
And the summer signing was instrumental in helping Manchester United to hold their own against Arsenal’s talented midfield of Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka.
Given Paul Pogba’s second-half sending off, Matic took on a role of enhanced importance to help see out three points as the Serbian made a clearance off the line.
Speaking at his post-match media conference about the 29-year-old’s miraculous recovery from his fitness problem, Mourinho said:
“He did great work that he did in the last couple of days.
“Fantastic dedication from the members of the medical staff that were working with him and we managed to go from a ‘maybe’ to a ‘yes’.
“He was a doubt, he managed to play 90 minutes but I think the best words must go to Arsenal’s medical department because [Alexandre] Lacazette went from a ‘no’ to a ’90 minutes’ and that’s great.”
Manchester United signed Matic in a controversial £40m deal from defending Premier League champions Chelsea in the summer transfer window back in August.
Matic has helped to reinforce Mourinho’s midfield and give Pogba more freedom to dictate Manchester United’s momentum.
