Wayne Rooney deserves more respect - Zlatan Ibrahimovic

 

Zlatan Ibrahimovic assisted Wayne Rooney's opener and Rooney set up Mata for the second. Reuters

Zlatan Ibrahimovic says Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney is "the perfect player" and deserves more respect, after the England captain broke the club's European goalscoring record in a 4-0 win over Feyenoord.

Rooney, 31, scored his 39th European goal as United won to ensure that a point in their final group game at Zorya Luhansk will take them into the last 32 of the Europa League.

It comes after Rooney, who is one goal away from matching Sir Bobby Charlton's club record of 249 goals, defended himself following criticism of his conduct while on England duty.

"He is a fantastic person," Ibrahimovic, who assisted Rooney's opener, told BBC Sport. "I am happy he broke the record. But I will help him to go one more. That I see as the real record."

Rooney apologised last week for "inappropriate" pictures of him at a wedding at the national team's hotel during the international break.

But on Saturday he said the reporting showed "a lack of respect", adding: "It feels as if the media are trying to write my obituary."

He was annoyed to be asked about it again after the Feyenoord game, saying: "All that's created by people like yourself asking questions, making a big deal out of nothing.

"I didn't set foot in the wedding and it's a shame to have to speak about it on nights like this."

Ibrahimovic said: "I think when you are famous like that, people are interested. They want to know everything.

"We should appreciate him for the player he is, what he did. I don't see many players from England who have had the same career as him. They should show more respect for him. Everybody wants to make a little thing a big thing."

Manager Jose Mourinho said: "People like him doesn't need to answer any more, just enjoy a few more years of his career and playing the best he can."

Henrikh Mkhitaryan must produce in Premier League - Jose Mourinho

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has challenged Henrikh Mkhitaryan to produce in the Premier League as he did in the 4-0 Europa League defeat of Feyenoord on Thursday.

Mourinho handed Mkhitaryan just his second start of the season, while leaving out Anthony Martial. Mkhitaryan's previous start came in the 2-1 home defeat against Manchester City on Sept. 10.

The Armenian had only made one further appearance since then, as a sub in the 2-1 defeat at Fenerbahce on Nov. 3, before being selected to face Feyenoord.

Discussing Mkhitaryan's display, Mourinho said: "He just needs now to try to replicate this kind of performance in the Premier League. The Premier League is different. He needs one more step.

"Obviously now the confidence level is higher. This performance gives him the right to believe that he can play the next match.

"The Premier League has more physicality, more aggression. He needs a bit more of that. But, with the quality, we know why we bought him. He has a high level of technical quality. He's very intelligent, very bright, with how he reads the game."

Mourinho also explained his excited reaction following United's fourth goal by saying: "The goal was amazing. If it was another team scoring that goal, another manager on the touchline, the goal would cross the planet. People would be speaking about magic. With a Mourinho team, it's just one goal."

Speaking about the performance as a whole, the United manager said: "We had that little bit of pressure on shoulders but they coped very well with it, with a good, solid performance."