Mourinho champions ´phenomenal´ Ibrahimovic

Jose Mourinho saluted the “phenomenal” performance of Manchester United match-winner Zlatan Ibrahimovic after his crucial goal in Wednesday’s late 2-1 triumph at Crystal Palace. 

United were the better side for most of the match but looked to be heading for a draw at Selhurst Park when James McArthur cancelled out Paul Pogba’s opener.

But Ibrahimovic, who set up Pogba for United’s first, struck two minutes from the end, with the Frenchman turning provider.

“He [Ibrahimovic] did a phenomenal performance,” Mourinho told reporters. “After the goal to have the strength and spirit to go in front of the back four and defend.

“It was an amazing performance for a guy who is 35 years old, scoring goals, being a leader; amazing.”

Ibrahimovic was not the only United player to attract the “phenomenal” tag, as the Portuguese coach also lavished praise on centre-back pairing Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones.

Both Rojo and Jones have regularly been derided during their respective United careers, though they were once again impressive, even if the Argentinian did catch the eye with a wild two-footed lunge on Wilfried Zaha in the first half.

“I didn’t discuss Danny Rose’s tackle or David Luiz’s tackle, so I don’t want to discuss Marcos Rojo’s tackle,” Mourinho said to BT Sport. “I won’t discuss that.

“Rojo is playing phenomenal, Jones is playing phenomenal. Rojo is an aggressive clean player playing the best football of his career.”