Manchester United reached the final of the EFL Cup despite losing the second leg 2-1 to Hull on the night.
Given that Jose Mourinho will have the opportunity to win his first trophy with his new club next month at Wembley, you might have thought he’d have been in jovial mood after the final whistle, especially on his 54th birthday.
However, United’s performance was such that they were fortunate they’d done all the hard work in the first leg.
Tom Huddlestone put Hull ahead with a rather dubious penalty before Paul Pogba equalised with what could have been a potentially vital away goal.
Oumar Niasse scored a late winner for the Tigers, but of course, it was still Mourinho’s men who progressed 3-2 on aggregate.
Against such a depleted squad, United shouldn’t have come that close to extra time, so it’s easy to see why their manager was frustrated.
In an utterly strange post-match interview, though, he told reporters that he didn’t even think Hull had won the game – so United’s unbeaten record was still intact.
“We didn’t lose,” he said.
“It was 1-1. I only saw two goals. I saw a Pogba goal and their goal, a fantastic goal. It was 1-1, we are still unbeaten. I think 18 matches unbeaten is amazing.
“I didn’t see Hull’s first goal. We celebrate, we are in the final. I don’t want to speak about the penalty or the performance. The game was in our pocket, under our control, and something happened to open the game.”
If only that was how it worked.
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