Jose Mourinho has paid credit to Manchester United’s ‘hard work’ after they edged past Southampton at St Mary’s yesterday.

A solitary effort from Romelu Lukaku early in the contest was all that separated the two sides on the day, with Manchester United forced to fend off an increasingly-potent Saints attack in the closing stages.

“It is not always possible to operate at high quality but fought hard,” he told reporters. “We did what many teams in the Premier League do for 90 minutes, which was play with five defenders at the back.

“Credit to them, they tried to play. [Mauricio] Pellegrino changed the team and sent on a second striker to play more direct. It was a hard game but we fought really hard and I am really happy.

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