After being ignored by Jose Mourinho for quite some time, Henrikh Mkhitaryan finally showed why Manchester United paid £26.3 million to secure his services. The Armenia international gave a sizzling display and recorded two assists out of which with one was a gem of a backheel for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as Jose Mourinho’s men ran riot against West Ham United in the quarterfinal of the EFL Cup.
Two goals each from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Anthony Martial helped the Red Devils to thrash the Hammers by 4-1 and book their place in the semifinals, where they will take on Hull City.
While the team received lavish praise for their impressive performance, it was the Armenian who the centre of attraction. The former Borussia Dortmund midfielder arrived at Old Trafford after having a brilliant season with the Bundesliga giants. However, he fell out of favour with Mourinho after some average displays. He was initially dropped from the team after he was injured,but he was still not included in the starting eleven that compelled the fans to criticise the United manager. He finally returned to the starting lineup and justified the decision by bagging the Man of the Match award.
As expected, fans were delighted with his performance and took to Twitter to praise the midfielder. Here are some of the best reactions:
If you have a player like Henrik Mkhitaryan in your squad, you do not start the likes of Jesse Lingard over him, hopefully he plays more now
— Liam Wilson (@LAWilson86) November 30, 2016
Mou is just a fool! When he should have started Mkhitaryan in the last game
— Blackbeard (@1MYK3L) November 30, 2016
United would of had atleast 8 points extra had they of played Mkhitaryan all season
— K (@FutboIMane) November 30, 2016
Damn, Jose might actually realise what a class player Mkhitaryan is now.
— will (@WilloIogy) November 30, 2016
https://twitter.com/lyallr/status/804054301953949696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Oh mkhi you're so fine ???
— Raj Kumar (@JoeBidet46) November 30, 2016
https://twitter.com/chetan_tailor/status/804054225374298117?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Mkhitaryan is a Genius
— ︎. (@Abbz_mufc) November 30, 2016
YES MKHITARYAN. Are you watching Jose? @FullTimeDEVILS #mufc
— Dom Hayhurst (@DomHayhurst3) November 30, 2016
This is the mkhitaryan mourinho loves benching. Does he want to get fired ni. The hell would you bench a good player for
— Tobi (@tobil0ba) November 30, 2016
Play Carrick and Mkhitaryan
Rooney should always drink
Jose should sit with the fansUtd will always win.
— UtdWay (@UtdWay) November 30, 2016
Excellent performance from Mkhitaryan.
Without a doubt earnt himself that place on the bench at the weekend.
— Football F*ck Ups (@FootbaIIFckUps) November 30, 2016
Jesse Lingard's a good squad player, but shouldn't be ahead of Martial or Mkhitaryan in the starting XI. Not a chance.
— Liam Canning (@LiamPaulCanning) November 30, 2016
https://twitter.com/Kloppholic/status/802945948926218240