Jose Mourinho invites Carlos Carvalhal into press conference after Manchester United beat Swansea
Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez scored the decisive goals in a 'perfect' United first half
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Your support makes all the difference.Jose Mourinho was in such good spirits after his Manchester United side’s 2-0 victory over Swansea City that he invited counterpart Carlos Carvalhal to sit with him in his post-match press conference.
The United manager hailed a “perfect” first-half performance from his players which produced the decisive goals from Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez.
The victory ensured that if Mourinho’s side avoid defeat at the Etihad next weekend, they will prevent Manchester City from winning the Premier League title in the Manchester derby.
“The first half was perfect,” Mourinho said. “Maybe one more goal and game over. The first half [was] probably one of the best we played here.
“First half they didn't cross the midfield line, didn't have one shot. We pressed so high and strong, and then recovered the ball.
“We had lots of movement and passing. We arrived in many dangerous positions, we scored two, we should have scored at least one more.”
Mourinho added: “The second half was different. I think, first of all, credit to Carlos because he improved the team at half-time. But I think we let it go a bit, probably [because] six or seven players played international football midweek.
“I could feel the intensity went down. We let them have the ball, we didn't press so high.
“Our transition when we lost the ball was slower, our passing was slower, our movement the same, so players with an amazing first half in the second half they let it go down a little bit.
“And then they felt they had a chance. David had to make a couple of saves, but in this moment of the season, seven matches to go, points are gold. We got the points and are ready to fight stay in second position.”
It was then that Mourinho invited Carvalhal into the room, telling his compatriot: “Come on, come on - give cakes to the guys,” in reference to the Portuguese cake Carvalhal handed out to reporters ahead of the game.
“I think Manchester United deserved the win,” Carvalhal said. “It is so clear than Manchester United started to play very strong with high intensity.
“Our problem was it was difficult to control [Paul] Pogba and [Nemanja] Matic because they started to control the game with their two players. We can’t put pressure on them.
“And because we can’t put pressure on them, we play too much near our area and with the players that they have between the lines they create problems to us.”
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