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Man Utd news: Frank Lampard reveals Jose Mourinho reaction to Derby's Carabao Cup win
MANCHESTER UNITED boss Jose Mourinho was “very complimentary” of Derby County’s performance in their Carabao Cup upset of the Red Devils last night.
Mourinho 'complimentary’ after Derby victory says Lampard
That’s what Derby boss Frank Lampard has revealed.
The ex-Chelsea midfielder, who spent four years under Mourinho at Stamford Bridge, is in his first season as a senior manager and led his Derby side to a famous triumph at Old Trafford in the third round of the cup.
The Rams were taken to penalties with Marouane Fellaini cancelling out Jack Marriott’s late header in stoppage time after Harry Wilson’s stunning free-kick brought Derby level having gone behind just three minutes in to a Juan Mata goal.
But Scott Carson saved from Phil Jones’ spot-kick to earn the Championship promotion hopefuls an 8-7 shoot-out win at the expense of the five-time winners - who were reduced to 10 men after the hour when Sergio Romero handled outside the box.
United failed to win in the Premier League days earlier, drawing 1-1 with Wolves to leave them eight points behind leaders Liverpool.
And their issues on the pitch are accompanied by an ongoing off-field dispute between Mourinho and Paul Pogba, with the Portuguese boss denying suggestions of a rift but confirming he has stripped the midfielder of his vice captaincy after criticising their tactics against Wolves.
But despite the issues engulfing United, Lampard insists his former mentor Mourinho was welcoming throughout the day and that he had kind words to say in a post-match chat.
“He just said what an impressive performance it was from the team,” said Lampard to the club’s in-house channel RamsTV.
“He was very complimentary, he was very welcoming from the beginning of the day.
“It was an honour for me. I played for Jose Mourinho and he changed my career.
“He changed my mentality when I was 25 years of age and I was part of a very successful era at Chelsea usually because of him.
“To stand next to him on the touchline was an honour.”
And Lampard also saluted the performance of his players, with United’s line-up having boasted big names in the likes of Romelu Lukaku, goalscorer Mata, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial to name a few.
“The performance from the team was outstanding,” he added.
“We deserved to win the game outright but when it goes to penalties, you are asking for the luck of the draw but the quality of our penalties, the personality and character of the lads to stand up and want to take penalties like they did at Old Trafford is special.
“I’m so proud of them. We haven’t won anything.
“There are future rounds to go through to get to the final of this competition but we have shown what we can do if we work together, work hard, work as a group and we have quality here so I’m immensely proud.”
United will hope to bounce back when they travel to West Ham this Saturday (3pm), although the Hammers are rejuvenated having overcome four straight defeats to start the season by beating Everton and drawing with Chelsea.