Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho has revealed that Henrikh Mkhitaryan will only be missing two games through an ankle injury to the relief of many Red Devils fans who have been waiting anxiously for an update.
Ther Armenian international was stretchered off during the clash between Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on Sunday. The Red Devils claimed all three points courtesy of Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s accurate strike in the second half.
The 27-year-old midfielder suffered an ankle injury after a cynical lunge by England international and Spurs full-back Danny Rose in the 81st minute of the game.
Manchester United fans can now breath a sigh of relief as club’s manager Jose Mourinho has stated that Mkhitaryan does not require any kind of surgery as the injury is not as serious as initially expected. The Portuguese manager expects him to be back by Boxing day.
“It looks like it is nothing dangerous or needing surgery so hopefully we will have him back on Boxing Day,” Mourinho said. “It depends always on the player - anatomy, physiology, mentality - but hopefully it is not a big thing.”
Mourinho also admitted that the win against Spurs was well deserved after playing well and for so many games and not getting the desired results. The 53-year old also admitted that Tottenham are a complete team according to him and if they hadn’t played well against Pochettino’s men they would have never gotten a result.
“To be honest, after so many matches playing well but not winning, we need more the points than the performance,” he added. “But I knew against a team like Tottenham it is difficult to get the result without playing well, so we played well. Very well. Tottenham, for me, is a very complete team.”
Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s goal against Spurs proved to be a decisive one as the Red Devils reduced the margin with the top four teams to just six points. Manchester United are currently in sixth place in the Premier League just two points off 5th placed Spurs.
The £26.3 million summer signing from Borussia Dortmund did not get much playing time under Mourinho for most of the season but made his way back into the team after impressive performances in the League Cup and Europa League in the last couple of weeks. Mkhitaryan will miss the next two Premier League fixtures against Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion in the month of December.
