Mourinho: Mkhitaryan needs Old Trafford to love him

Jose Mourinho hailed Henrikh Mkhitaryan after the Armenian international scored the final goal in Manchester United’s 3-1 over Sunderland on Boxing Day.

The midfielder scored four minutes from time at Old Trafford to give the home side a 3-0 lead, before Fabio Borini got a consolation for the visitors in injury-time.

Daley Blind had opened the scoring six minutes before half-time, Zlatan Ibrahimovic got his 12th league goal of the season and the team’s second of the game in the 82th minute before Mkhitaryan popped up with a screamer.

Mourinho told the club’s official site: “He has scored beautiful goals all his career. In this moment, [there are the] goals but also the defensive work and also creativity.

“And I’m so happy he came back after this injury and came back with his happiness and the feeling that the people at Old Trafford love him. That’s a very important thing for him.”