José Mourinho praised Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s fine first goal for Manchester United and expressed disappointment at the behaviour of Zorya fans after his side progressed to the Europa Leage knockout stage.

United beat the Ukrainian side 2-0 through Mkhitaryan’s 48th-minute goal and a late effort from Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Yet during the first half Daley Blind complained of having a laser pen pointed at his face and a firecracker was thrown towards goalkeeper Sergio Romero. At the interval two flags were stolen from United supporters by home fans and fighting broke out momentarily.

Talking of the firecracker in particular, Mourinho said: “The support was beautiful and they don’t need to do that to make it more beautiful. For the goalkeeper … [it was dangerous]. The stadium was beautiful, the supporters, the Man United fans were good too. But maybe Uefa is not happy and is going to take some money from Zorya, which I think Zorya doesn’t deserve that.”

Regarding Mkhitaryan, whose goal was an impressive effort,the manager said: “He has a strong mentality, he was very determined to fight against his difficult adaptation and he’s doing that in the best way. He worked really hard physically, tactically, and the talent we know is there.

“The talent we knew what we were buying. He fought to improve and now he is playing good in the Premier League, Europa League and the EFL Cup, and now evolving a bit more happiness for him,so I’m very pleased.”

United are now unbeaten in seven but have drawn six of their eight matches in the Premier League. “We have been playing well, that’s why our heads have not gone down,” said Mourinho. “When you play well and you don’t win matches, you always have the hope the good results will come.

“The reality was, nobody was better than us, even when we had disappointing results. We have always been better than our opponents so we have never lost confidence.”