Pogba grabs a brace in United’s Europa victory
Print Edition
MANCHESTER United manager Jose Mourinho said Paul Pogba needs time to fulfil his full potential in England after the French midfielder scored twice in a 4-1 win over Fenerbahce.
Pogba, a world-record 89 million pounds (US$109.1 million) signing from Juventus, scored a penalty and a long-range effort in Thursday’s Europa League group game at Old Trafford.
The 23-year-old is yet to hit the heights since returning to United after four years in Turin, but Mourinho believes such performances will help expedite the bedding-in process.
“First of all, in some of your mouths, he goes from the worst player in the Premier League to a great player in 48 hours,” Mourinho told reporters.
“I am not specifically saying it is you. I say media, especially the Einsteins. We know he is a very good player.
“We know he needs some time to show his potential. I know Italian football very well. I know teams play completely different from the Premier League.
“I am not saying we are better, but we are different: different in the intensity, the number of touches on the ball, everything is different and he needs time to adapt. He is a self-confident boy. He was not depressed because some people said he was a bad player. He was calm.”
Pogba opened the scoring in the 31st minute, netting a penalty after Juan Mata had been bundled over by Fenerbahce center-back Simon Kjaer.
Anthony Martial added another penalty three minutes later before Jesse Lingard teed up Pogba to whip a first-time shot into the top-left corner from outside the box. Lingard got on the score-sheet with another long-range effort early in the second half before United old boy Robin van Persie reduced the arrears late on, for which he received a rousing ovation.
Elsewhere, Shakhtar had five different scorers — Viktor Kovalenko, Facundo Ferreyra, Bernard, Taison, and Maksym Malyshev — in a 5-0 win over Gent that kept the team on maximum points after three games in Group H.
Schalke, a 1-0 winner at Krasnodar, and Zenit St. Petersburg, which rallied to beat Dundalk 2-1, are the other teams to have a maximum nine points so far.
Dominik Prokop and Olarenwaju Kayode scored in the final eight minutes as Austria Vienna battled back for a 3-3 draw against Roma in the Italian capital. That leaves the teams tied on five points atop Group E.
Inter Milan finally has points, beating Southampton 1-0 with a 67th-minute goal from Antonio Candreva from the team’s only shot on target at San Siro.
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