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MANCHESTER UNITED

Lukaku was confident he could dominate Lovren, says Mourinhonet

The Belgium international gave Liverpool's defence a torrid time at Old Trafford, earning the praise of his manager despite failing to find the net

Jose Mourinho admitted he was delighted to see Romelu Lukaku give Dejan Lovren a nightmare 90 minutes in Manchester United's victory over Liverpool.
Lovren and fellow Reds defender Trent Alexander-Arnold endured an afternoon to forget as they were continually outmuscled by the Belgian in a 2-1 reverse.
And while Lukaku did not find the net Mourinho was pleased to see him making an impact, while insisting that he did not go out to target Lovren.


"We gave options to the players. I am not the kind of mechanic coach that says A pass to B, B to C, C to D. We have different options," the manager explained to reporters.
"We have also the possibility of the long ball to [Scott] McTominay and to play against [Andrew] Robertson in the air. Lukaku was confident from experience that he could be dominant towards Lovren."
Marcus Rashford was also on form for United, ending a 10-game run without scoring with a double.
They were United's only two shots on target in the entire match and Mourinho believes Rashford's brace – which came in front of England manager Gareth Southgate – will be a huge boost to his self-belief.
"He scored two goals in a big match against a top-class opponent," Mourinho told a post-match news conference after United moved five points clear of Liverpool.
"The good thing was he scored from the first chance he had, because the last few months that was not happening with him and he was feeling that a little bit in terms of his confidence.
"But today a big game, probably unexpectedly, we trusted him, we felt the game could be adapted to his quality. He is improving a lot in training and sometimes that's the point.
"You are not in the training ground, you don't see what's going on, the self-confidence, the moods, and the feeling with him was that he was improving in the last few weeks."

Rashford was replaced by Marouane Fellaini in the 70th minute as Mourinho added an extra body to the midfield, prompting boos from a large number of supporters.
The manager was not worried about that response, but was unhappy with the jeers for Scott McTominay after he passed the ball backwards during a second-half counter-attack.
Mourinho said: "The fans can do what they want. I am not upset at all with that reaction, I am upset with a reaction they had to Scott McTominay. A kid of 20 years old was making all the right decisions and they want him to make the wrong decisions.
"So, when the kid decides to break the intensity of the game, not to lose, keep possession, play a back pass and give a solution to keep the ball in the opponent's half. It was a wonderful solution that many, many top players with experience don't do it.
"The kid did it and the fans reacted against the kid, that for me was the bad one."


Nevertheless, the United boss was overjoyed with the final result, though he admitted the display could have been better.
"Perfect result yes," Mourinho said. "Three points is very important. I wouldn't go so far as saying it was a perfect performance.
"In the first half the game gave us the opportunity to be direct, fast and score goals, more than we did. A third goal from [Juan] Mata would've been fantastic."

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Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho scored to seal a 2-0 victory over Malaga in LaLiga before the hosts had Samu sent off.
Barcelona made light of Lionel Messi's absence and continued their march towards LaLiga glory with a 2-0 victory over 10-man Malaga.
Typically, Messi was Barca's match-winning hero when Ernesto Valverde's side beat nearest rivals Atletico Madrid 1-0 last weekend, but sat this one out after his wife gave birth to the couple's third child
Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho scored excellent goals with Messi missing inside the opening half hour and Barca's lead at the summit – with Atleti to host Celta Vigo on Sunday – is now 11 points.
At 2-0 loss at La Rosaleda last April landed a damaging blow against Barcelona's title defence last season, but this Malaga find themselves rooted hopelessly to the bottom of LaLiga.
Any prospect of an unlikely comeback for the hosts became even more remote when right winger Samu was deservedly sent for an atrocious 30th-minute lunge on Jordi Alba.

Youssef En-Nesyri and Maxime Lestienne missed chances as Malaga fought gamely, but, sitting as they do 11 point from safety, their relegation appears a similar formality to Barcelona wrapping up the title.
Suarez was frustrated by a brilliant save from Roberto in the 13th minute, a strong hand keeping a shot out of the bottom-left corner after Paulinho found the Uruguay international with a clever cushioned pass.
The Malaga goalkeeper had no chance two minutes later when Suarez darted between his two centre-backs to head home Jordi Alba's superb raking cross from the left.
Paulinho was at the heart of many of Barca's best moments early on and fired into the side-netting before another Brazilian wonderfully illuminated the contest.
Ousmane Dembele clipped a pass into Coutinho's feet and the man who replaced the France winger as Barca's record signing showed ingenuity to direct a perfect backheeled finish past Roberto.
Samu then allowed his frustrations to boil over in ugly fashion as he launched himself at Alba, who was fortunate to escape with nothing more than a limp and a torn right sock.

That left Malaga with a dauntingly uphill task and they could scarcely afford En-Nesyri wasting a glorious 36th-minute chance.
The shot-shy forward has two goals to his name all season and headed off target from inside the six-yard box after Manuel Iturra dug out a cross.
Coutinho forced another sharp stop from Roberto before the break and the Malaga number one continued to be busy in the second half.
Samuel Umtiti should have made him work harder when Dembele cleverly delayed a chipped cross to the far post in the 55th minute.
Dembele, frustrated by injury for much of his debut season in Spain, was starting to enjoy himself and saw Roberto hold impressively after Sergi Roberto neatly laid Ivan Rakitic's searching pass into his path.
Coutinho was in a determined but fruitless pursuit for one of his long-range specials to find the net, while Lestienne hooked across goal at the other end.
The game was ambling towards its conclusion by that stage, although Suarez ensured he will sit out next weekend's match against Athletic Bilbao by earning a booking for a clumsy 84th-minute shove on Ignasi Miquel.

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BARCELONA, Spain - Barcelona have one hand on the La Liga title after Lionel Messi's sensational free-kick earned them a deserved 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
Atletico arrived at the Camp Nou on the back of eight consecutive wins but Barca halted the surge and instead restored their own lead at the top to eight points, with 11 games left to play.
Messi proved the difference again, his bending first-half strike worthy of winning any contest and taking his own career tally to an astonishing 600 goals, 539 for Barca and 61 for Argentina.
The only blot on a dominant Barcelona performance was an injury to Andres Iniesta, who had to be substituted after 34 minutes with what the club confirmed was a strain in the back of his thigh.
Iniesta now has 10 days to recover before next week's
Champions League second leg against Chelsea.
The build-up to this contest, labelled 'the Grand Final' by sections of the Spanish press, was driven by talk of a Barcelona dip following three draws in five league games, with the in-form Atletico primed to move within two points of their rivals.
But Diego Simeone's strategy of absorbing and counter failed to pay off here and, in the end, the visitors might easily have been beaten by a more emphatic scoreline.
Atletico striker Antoine Griezmann, meanwhile, who came in with seven goals in two games, was largely anonymous.
Ernesto Valverde made a statement of attacking intent by plumping for the more creative Philippe Countinho over Paulinho but his team took a while to find their rhythm.
Even Messi hit the wall with a poor free-kick and then sent a cross-field switch straight into the advertising boards.
The Argentinian shook his head but soon recovered, moments later escaping a cage of four Atletico defenders before driving a shot straight at Jan Oblak.
For all Atletico's discipline and defensive rigour, one mistake in the 26th minute was all it needed. Thomas Partey clipped the back of Messi's foot 25 yards out and the forward whipped the free-kick beyond the scrambling Oblak and into the top corner.
The rest of the half was a picture of Barca dominance, interrupted only by the injured Iniesta being replaced by Andre Gomes and a handful of minor skirmishes, the most noteworthy of which saw Messi hack down Filipe Luis and earn a yellow card.
Atletico's demise was summed up by Luis tripping over his own feet during a rare attack down the left but half-time helped the visitors, who were more competitive after the break.
Luis Suarez thought he had scored a second after half-volleying through Oblak's legs but was flagged offside, before Jose Gimenez applied a crucial block to deflect a Messi shot over.
There was one nervy moment for the hosts five minutes from time as Diego Costa headed down for Kevin Gameiro to slam home. Costa, however, had strayed offside and Barca held on for what will surely prove a crucial three points.

MANCHESTER CITY



The Londoners finished 15 points ahead of Pep Guardiola's side last season but are now 25 points behind, and their approach on Sunday shows why
When Chelsea beat Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last December, Antonio Conte’s men went seven points clear of their rivals as they continued their march towards the Premier League title. On Sunday, City’s dominant victory put them a staggering 25 points clear of last season’s champions.
The difference in the two sides, in such a short period of time, is quite incredible. Chelsea, who won the title at a canter in Conte’s first season, were quite frankly pathetic here. City were not quite at their majestic best, but they did not have to be.
The Londoners, who had all the answers last season, offered nothing but a meek defensive display. In the parlance of their former manager, they parked the bus, and in fairness they did limit City’s chances. The problem was that they created absolutely nothing themselves.
They failed to register a shot of any kind in the first half - the first time they have done that since Opta records began in 2003 - and too often their forays forward simply came to nothing. Eden Hazard, deployed as a false 9, may as well have not showed up. On more than one occasion he threw his hands up in disgust as a long ball forward sailed over his head.


Chelsea, not for the first time this season, had no attacking plan. Think of their performance against Barcelona but without Willian’s long-range shots.
A lack of attacking cohesion is nothing new this season and it is why they could genuinely miss out on the top four.
Coming on the back of such a dominant title victory, the decline is staggering.
Conte will surely go in the summer and the bandwagon will roll on, but once again the Londoners will find themselves in a position familiar to City fans: worldbeaters one season, also-rans the next.
For City those days seem to be a thing of the past, certainly as long as Pep Guardiola is in the dug-out.
Now they have all the answers.
Even had Chelsea put up more of a fight this season it is doubtful they would have got anywhere near lifting the title again.


City are far and away the best team in the country and if Guardiola can focus minds over the summer it is hard to see anybody else bridging the gap in the near future.
As Conte was credited with taming English football with a three-man defence and a seemingly unstoppable counter-attack, Guardiola was said to be struggling to get to grips with his new surroundings.
He was slowly making his mark on City but too many flaky performances ultimately undermined the Catalan’s first season.
The game against Chelsea in December 2016 highlights their issues.
Then, City dominated the game but failed to take their chances and watched on as Chelsea got in behind to fire past a hopeless Claudio Bravo.
Guardiola insisted his side deserved to win that day, and whether he is right or not the outcome only serves as further proof of how far the Catalan’s side have come.
Last season’s lapses, at both ends of the pitch, are by now a thing of the past
They are past the point of proving themselves to anybody, at least as far as the league is concerned; they are 19 points clear at the top of the table. They may have invested plenty of money to help catch Chelsea up yet Guardiola’s work on the training field has been evident all season. It certainly was on Sunday.
They barely let Chelsea breathe when in possession, and when they won it back they knocked it around probing patiently for openings. Their structure ensured there were few opportunities for the kind of costly counter-attacks of last season.
Quite simply, Chelsea’s players often looked like strangers. City’s look like they’ve been doing this for years, and the fear for the rest is that they will succeed where Chelsea have failed and do it, consistently, for years to come.

BARCELONA
The Barcelona midfielder was forced off with a hamstring injury against Atletico Madrid and is a doubt for the upcoming Champions League fixture



Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde admits he is unsure of how best to replace the injured Andres Iniesta in his starting XI.
Iniesta is a doubt for the second leg of the Champions League last-16 tie with Chelsea on March 14 after sustaining a hamstring problem in the 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid.
The 33-year-old attempted to play through the injury before he eventually made way for Andre Gomes in the 36th minute.
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And, with Philippe Coutinho ineligible for European competition, Chelsea's visit to Camp Nou could require Barca to repair two key components from the team that started on Sunday.
"He cannot be matched, like Messi. You cannot replace a unique player like him," Valverde said of his captain.
"We are going to wait to see the scan of the injury. It looked like a muscle tear, but we will hope that it is not so serious.
"He knows how to manage himself. He was having a great game."
[INJURY NEWS] @andresiniesta8 has a hamstring injury in his right leg. More tests are needed to find out the extent of the problem #BarçaAtleti
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Iniesta's early withdrawal against second-placed Atleti was ultimately softened by a victory that improved Barca's lead in La Liga to eight points with 11 matches remaining.
Lionel Messi netted the winner with a sublime first-half free-kick, his 600th career goal for club and country.
"There is no player like Messi in the world," Valverde said.
"I do not know what would have happened if he was playing for Atletico. I don’t want to imagine it, either." 'He can't be replaced' - Iniesta injury leaves Valverde worried ahead of Chelsea tieThe Barcelona midfielder was forced off with a hamstring injury against Atletico Madrid and is a doubt for the upcoming Champions League fixture
Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde admits he is unsure of how best to replace the injured Andres Iniesta in his starting XI.
Iniesta is a doubt for the second leg of the Champions League last-16 tie with Chelsea on March 14 after sustaining a hamstring problem in the 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid.
The 33-year-old attempted to play through the injury before he eventually made way for Andre Gomes in the 36th minute.

And, with Philippe Coutinho ineligible for European competition, Chelsea's visit to Camp Nou could require Barca to repair two key components from the team that started on Sunday.
"He cannot be matched, like Messi. You cannot replace a unique player like him," Valverde said of his captain.
"We are going to wait to see the scan of the injury. It looked like a muscle tear, but we will hope that it is not so serious.
"He knows how to manage himself. He was having a great game."



Iniesta's early withdrawal against second-placed Atleti was ultimately softened by a victory that improved Barca's lead in La Liga to eight points with 11 matches remaining.
Lionel Messi netted the winner with a sublime first-half free-kick, his 600th career goal for club and country.
"There is no player like Messi in the world," Valverde said.
"I do not know what would have happened if he was playing for Atletico. I don’t want to imagine it, either.