Jose Mourinho praised his side's performance in difficult conditions during their 1-1 away draw with FC Rostov in Russia on Thursday evening.
An awful pitch, which Mourinho had complained about before the match, made the game into a very scrappy affair but Manchester United managed to secure an away goal, thanks to Henrikh Mkhitaryan's first half strike, which puts them in the driving seat for the return leg at Old Trafford in a week's time.
3 - Henrikh Mkhitaryan is the first @ManUtd player to score in three successive European games since Wayne Rooney in March 2010. Consistent.
As permanutd.com, Mourinho said:It was a very good performance in relation to the conditions. It was impossible to play better, impossible to play a passing game.
"We played what the game demanded and we played well. We made one defensive mistake. We have an open result for the second leg with a little advantage for us.
"There are no injuries. I think we had a positive result. We know we need to win or to have a 0-0 draw (in the second leg)so the game is open, the tie is open. But, in these circumstances, I think it was a good result.�
Sorry, United 3-4-2-1 with Young and Blind at wing back. Ball bouncing like mad on that pitch
Mourinho deployed a five-man defence for the first time during his Old Trafford tenure and was questioned regarding his tactical change, also.
"The game plan was that we know they don't try to play. They tried to put the ball always to the front, into their strikers. That's the way they play on this pitch and so the best thing to do was to play three at the back."
Top support from our away fans again... and a big thank you to @RostovFC & their supporters for such a warm welcome. �
(Pics: @2dryhands) pic.twitter.com/oxCthB6ghI
In the wake of the trouble between English and Russian fans in Marseille at Euro 2016, there had been some security concerns pre-match, but the home fans had drawn praise how they welcomed their Manchester counterparts, which even extended to providing blankets for Red Devils fans to use during the game.
When asked about this, Mourinho stated:I think everything was magnificent. People have been nice to us since we landed, in the game they supported their team like it should be done.
"Our supporters behaved properly. And, on the pitch, it was an example, the players fought really hard for every ball but in a positive way.
"Hopefully the Rostov fans who go to Old Trafford next week have great conditions now to be welcomed and for everything to be an example.�
We wanted more, but we take home a draw and an important away âš½ Thanks to all #mufc supporters for covering such a long distance #UEL pic.twitter.com/56ELsfBQ5G
United's performance fell away slightly in the second half but by then they had already secured the all-important away goal, which has to be the most pleasing aspect of the night for Mourinho.
An away goal is always positive. It's better [to be at]1-1 than 0-0, obviously. But the game is open, the result is open and this Rostov team has experience of playing big matches, big opponents, big stadiums.
"I don't think it's a problem for them to go to Old Trafford and play us. They play Sunday against Terek Grozny, we play Monday against Chelsea - they know they have more time.
"It's more difficult but we are one step from the quarter-finals. Old Trafford will push us and hopefully we'll get to the quarter-finals.�