Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has conceded that Huddersfield Town were the better side as his team slumped to their first league defeat of the season courtesy of a 2-1 loss at the John Smith's Stadium.
Manchester United dominated the ball in the opening proceedings despite a few tetchy encounters between the players that led to early yellow cards to Anthony Martial and Tommy Smith.
But despite all of Manchester United’s dominance, Huddersfield opening the scoring when Juan Mata’s mistake in the middle of the park allowed Aaron Mooy to run at the away side’s defence and while David de Gea saved Tom Ince’s initial shot, Mooy was on hand to convert the rebound.
And another defensive mistake from Victor Lindelof, who came on in place of an injured Phil Jones, allowed Laurent Depoitre to double the away side’s lead, despite enjoying just a quarter of the possession.
Manchester United pressed hard to get a goal back before half time, but other than Romelu Lukaku’s effort on target and Nemanja Matic’s shot just deflecting wide, the away side couldn’t threaten the Huddersfield goal.
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Jose Mourinho’s men created very little in the way of clear cut opportunities in the second half as Huddersfield’s defence stood tall and stonewalled a desperate Manchester United side.
But they finally got a goal back in the 78th minute when Lukaku’s cross from the right hand side after a good run found Marcus Rashford’s head, and the striker turned in the ball into the home side’s net.
Manchester United tried to put more pressure on the Huddersfield backline in the final ten minutes, but some desperate defending from the home side earned them their first win over the Red Devils in 65 years.
Mourinho admits the Terriers were the better side, but he refused to criticise his players in public even though he conceded that there was no reason why his team should lack desire.
He was left surprised by the limp performance from his team and admits that he wasn’t expecting such a showing.
Mourinho told the BBC: "The team that wanted it more won. When the best team wins there is nothing to say.
"I don't know why they wanted it more. I won’t be critical of my players in the media.
"I will analyse the game and, if I need to, I will criticise them.
"I was surprised by our performance, I was not expecting that.
"The team that started with emotion, aggression, intensity and desire, the team that played the game of their lives was the team that won.
"Maybe in the second half we wanted it a little more and maybe we could get a draw, but I honestly think we deserved the punishment of the defeat."
Manchester United will return to league action next weekend when they host Tottenham Hotspur.
