Jose Mourinho in focus

Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United hosted Brighton in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday, a day on from the Portuguese making an extraordinary defence of his record as Red Devils boss.

Mourinho had delivered a lengthy, impassioned monologue at his pre-match press conference in response to a question about fans’ reaction to Tuesday’s shock Champions League last-16 exit.

Here, Press Association Sport looks at Mourinho’s approach and behaviour during the Brighton game as his men moved into the semi-finals with a 2-0 win.

Selection

Mourinho made a notable call as he dropped Alexis Sanchez to the bench, the first time the Chilean had not started a match since joining in January from Arsenal, while Paul Pogba was also named as a substitute once again. The team showed five changes from Tuesday’s loss to Sevilla, with Anthony Martial, Scott McTominay and Luke Shaw among those coming in. Neither Sanchez nor Pogba made it on.

Demeanour

In a game that began with snow falling from the sky, Mourinho was fairly animated in the opening stages as he moved around his technical area – perhaps just to keep warm as much as anything else. At one stage he kicked snow towards a pitchside cameraman, and swiftly apologised. When Romelu Lukaku put United in front in the 37th minute the manager, with a scarf pulled up to his nose, showed little emotion, but there was a small fist pump. He certainly seemed happy enough after Nemanja Matic made it 2-0 with seven minutes to go, smiling as he exchanged words soon after with Brighton’s Ezequiel Schelotto during a break in play.

Reception

There was no indication from the stands of United fans having taken against Mourinho’s comments – his name was chanted at points in both halves of the game.

Overall

United were not at their best in this contest, but at the end of a turbulent week Mourinho could take satisfaction from them simply getting the job done to progress to the semi-finals of the only competition they can realistically still win this season. It was notable the goals were scored by two players he had highlighted on Friday as consistent performers.