The apprentice strikes down his master. Jose Mourinho and Frank Lampard‘s first encounter on opposite sides of a technical area promised much and delivered, as Derby County eliminated 10-man Manchester United from the EFL Cup at Old Trafford by way of penalty shoot-out.
United appeared to be in for a straightforward evening when Juan Mata’s curled finish established an early home lead but second-half goals from Harry Wilson, a Liverpool loanee no less, and a late Jack Marriott header put the Championship side on the verge of a memorable upset.
With one minute of added time remaining, the visitors would be pegged back by one of Mourinho’s most-trusted lieutenants. Marouane Fellaini earned a wasteful United another chance, converting a late header.
Yet in an almost faultless penalty shoot-out, Phil Jones would be the fall guy. After 14 perfect spot-kicks, the centre-half saw his tame effort easily held by Scott Carson.
The defeat is far from fatal for Mourinho, coming in a competition that is not high on the list of United’s priorities this season. But on a day when the manager’s feud with Paul Pogba took on a new dimension and as a sense of impending crisis, it will only increase the pressure on the Portuguese.
In his programme notes, Mourinho picked up from where he had left off after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers, when he criticised the attitude of his players. “95 per cent isn’t enough when others give 101 per cent,” he wrote. An out-of-form Alexis Sanchez was dropped to the substitutes’ bench as one of nine changes.
No player had displeased Mourinho quite as much as one Paul Pogba, though. The hours leading up to kick-off were dominated by the news that the midfielder will not captain United again under Mourinho’s watch following his call for United to always ‘attack, attack, attack’ when playing at home.
Omitted from the matchday squad and watching on from Old Trafford’s Sir Alex Ferguson stand, Pogba will at least be pleased that his team-mates appear to be listening. It took them just three minutes to establish a lead.
Derby made the critical mistake of offering Anthony Martial too much space on the left flank throughout the first half, even after being made to pay for doing so early on. The Frenchman’s first burst down the wing resulted in a cross that was dummied by Romelu Lukaku, laid off by Jesse Lingard then expertly finished first-time by Mata.
Having spoken about Mourinho in the highest possible terms during the build-up, Lampard will have been disappointed to see his players show just as much respect to their opponents. The apprentice had spent the first few minutes on of his technical area but quickly slinked back to the dugout. The master, seated, raised a triumphant fist.
Whether Lampard’s first season in management is a success will depend on the talents of a young but gifted band of playmakers, spearheaded by 19-year-old Chelsea loanee and England Under-21 international Mason Mount.
It was the teenagers exquisite through ball that cut through United defence diagonally to create Derby’s best first-half opportunity, minutes after Mata’s opener, but Mason Bennett’s effort was straight into the midriff of Sergio Romero.
The Championship side created little else of substance and United should have been out of sight by the interval. Lukaku was particularly wasteful, missing a one-on-one after capitalising on Richard Keogh’s slip and heading over a hooked cross by the excellent Martial.
Though comfortable, United would not be in the clear unless they doubled their lead and at the start of the second half, one of Lampard’s on-loan tyros punished their profligacy.
Wilson’s equaliser should have come five minutes earlier in fact, but when an Eric Bailly tackle played him in, Romero tipped his effort wide of the post.
Ashley Young’s foul on David Nugent gave the youngster another chance shortly after, albeit a more difficult one, 25 yards out from goal. This time, though, he made no mistake, curling into the top left-hand corner.
Mourinho reacted in predictable fashion, sending Marouane Fellaini on alongside Fred, and he was soon thankful not to have used all three of his substitutions.
A clever ball in behind by Nugent invited Wilson to burst through on goal, which in turn coaxed Romero out of his penalty area. The Argentinian could not help but put a hand on Wilson’s attempt to dink the ball around him and duly earned a red card.
After Romero had stood and contemplated his foolishness for a moment, Lee Grant, United’s third-choice goalkeeper with 186 career appearances for Derby to his name, came on in Mata’s place. Grant watched Mount’s free-kick hit the wall.
In a first sign of life from United for some time, Lukaku struck the post after linking up well with Martial but this was now an even contest. Derby came again, with substitute Florian Jozefzoon’s header forcing Grant into a low save at his near post.
It was a warning shot and the killer blow soon followed. Mount’s shot from the edge of the area was hit well and Grant reacted quickly to parry the effort away, but United’s lackadaisical defence had failed to track Marriott, who nodded in the rebound. After briefly consulting VAR in his ear, referee Stuart Atwell confirmed the goal.
Old Trafford appeared destined for another round of recriminations in the press regarding where this club is heading under Mourinho, until his trusted ‘Plan B’ paid off.
In the fifth minute of added-on time, Fellaini did what he could not in those laboured late stages against and rose at the far post to score, emphatically forcing Diogo Dalot’s cross past Scott Carson.
Relief was seen all Old Trafford, until the stadium’s master of ceremonies reminded the crowd that a penalty shoot-out would immediately follow.
The shoot-out was of the highest quality and briefly threatened to last well into the night but after Derby captain Richard Keogh converted, Jones’ sudden death spot-kick fell some way short of the required standard. As, in truth, had United’s performance.
