JOSE MOURINHO is defending Victor Lindelof after Huddersfield took advantage of the defender twice to hand Manchester United their first league loss of the season.
Huddersfield stunned the Red Devils with a 2-1 win on Saturday largely in part to a shocking misjudgement by the Swede that gave the Terriers their second goal. But the Portuguese boss said after the game their £31million summer signing was not to blame: "It's not fair to say that the mistakes were responsible for the defeat. They are in context.
"But no since the first minute of the game was poor for us and we paid the price and we deserved it."
Lindelof entered the game to replace an injured Phil Jones and five minutes later Huddersfield struck with their first goal when Aaron Mooy skipped past the 23-year-old.
Then a huge mistake by Lindelof - who failed to deal with a goal kick that sailed into the area - awarded the Terriers their game winner. David Wagner's men held on to claim their first win over the Red Devils in 65 years and Mourinho praised the better team.
He said: "The team that wanted it more won. When the best team wins there is nothing to say.
"I don't know why they wanted it more. I won't be critical of my players in the media. I will analyse the game and, if I need to, I will criticise them.
"I was surprised by our performance, I was not expecting that." Mourinho continued: "The team that started with emotion, aggression, intensity and desire, the team that played the game of their lives was the team that won.
"Maybe in the second half we wanted it a little more and maybe we could get a draw, but I honestly think we deserved the punishment of the defeat."
A draw wasn't to be for United and a goal back from Marcus Rashford with 20 minutes remaining was all they could manage as their cross-town rivals Manchester City edge further away from them at the top of the table.
City's 3-0 win over Burnley puts the Sky Blues five points ahead of United who remain in second.
From The Sun
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