SM
Barcelona vs. Brann: 4 hrs 43 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Fellaini and Smalling switch focus to Premier League form

:Headline: Fellaini and Smalling switch focus to Premier League form: ID:342763: from db_amp
United progressed to the knockout stage of the Champions League with victory over Young Boys.

Marouane Fellaini and Chris Smalling are focused on climbing the Premier League standings after edging through to the Champions League knockout phase with a match to spare.

Tuesday night appeared to be going the same way as Saturday’s tepid 0-0 draw with struggling Crystal Palace, with the Old Trafford faithful growing impatient as their side toiled against Young Boys.

But Fellaini saved their blushes in stoppage time to secure a 1-0 win that propelled United into the round of 16 with a match to spare thanks to next month’s opponents Valencia losing at Juventus in the other Group H match.

Marouane Fellaini (second right) spared United’s blushes against Young Boys (Martin Rickett/PA)

Early progress means Mourinho’s men can increase their focus on turning around their poor league form, with Saturday’s trip to embattled Southampton looking like the perfect opportunity to claw back the gap to the top four.

“I think the mood is good,” Fellaini said after his goalscoring heroics.

“The players are happy, but the most important thing now is to focus on Saturday and three points.

“It’s always difficult to come back from the national team. Now we have a full week of training. All the players are ready to compete and start Saturday.

“Criticism is part of football, but we have to work. We are a team, we are together, and give everything too. Together we have to move forward and take the points.”

Smalling echoed his team-mates’ sentiments after narrowly edging past Young Boys.

“We had two targets speaking before that Palace game: getting back into that top four and qualifying,” he said. “We’ve qualified now and now it’s all about our league form.”

Even given Saints’ well-documented problems, United cannot afford to play as they did at home to Palace and Young Boys.

Mourinho let out his pent-up anger on some water bottle carriers, kicking one and throwing another, after Fellaini’s late winner, with Smalling suggesting a lack of confidence played its part on Tuesday.

“We played well against them away, but we knew that at home they were going to be hard to break down,” he said of a side United managed to beat 3-0 in Switzerland.

“I think we created a lot of chances and it was deserved but they made us work for that.

“We created some good chances – not just half chances – and I think heads can dip when a few of those don’t go in.

“You could see the relief in our faces knowing that we had qualified and not have to go to Valencia and really make it hard for ourselves.”

It was, in truth, a night that brought more questions than answers, but there was the positive of a second successive clean sheet for United – albeit thanks in no small part to David De Gea’s wonderful second-half save.

“The partnerships keep changing but it was another clean sheet and I think we need to get back to where we were in the last couple of years when we were very hard to break down,” defensive mainstay Smalling said, having paired up with Phil Jones with Victor Lindelof injured.

“It’s not ideal (to change centre-backs).

“I think you can see when you have a consistent partnership you can see there is less chances being given away.

“It is what it is and it’s something that we get used to and we’re used to playing with each other in training.”

When contacted on Wednesday evening UEFA said it had not opened a disciplinary case against Mourinho regarding his actions against the water bottles.

amp_article__342763 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2018-11-28 17:26:18:
html db last update - 2021-02-24 01:16:32 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Marouane Fellaini

Click here for more stories about Manchester United

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal28204470244664
2Liverpool28197265263964
3Manchester CityMan City28196363283563
4Aston Villa29175760421856
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs28165759421753
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd28152113939047
7West Ham UnitedWest Ham2912894650-444
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2811985044642
9Wolverhampton WanderersWolves28125114244-241
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle281241259481140
11Chelsea27116104745239
12Fulham29115134344-138
13Bournemouth2898114152-1135
14Crystal Palace2878133348-1529
15Brentford2975174154-1326
16Everton2887132939-1025
17Luton TownLuton2957174260-1822
18Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest2967163551-1621
19Burnley2945202963-3417
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd2835202474-5014
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .