Jose Mourinho has escaped a touchline ban following his sending-off near the end of Manchester United's win at Southampton.

The United boss was given his marching orders by referee Craig Pawson for encroaching on the pitch in stoppage time during his side's 1-0 win.

But after receiving the referee's report, the FA decided no additional action was necessary and Mourinho will be pitchside for Saturday's visit of Crystal Palace to Old Trafford.

Mourinho and his players flew to Russia yesterday for tomorrow's Champions League group game against CSKA Moscow, with midfielder Juan Mata admitting he and his team-mates must maintain their focus and winning ways.

Mourinho has escaped further action after the Southampton game (
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Cavendish Press)
Daley Blind arrives at Carrington (
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Cavendish Press)
Marouane Fellaini will be on the plane (
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Cavendish Press)

“The schedule doesn’t allow for a break and we’re now focused on the Champions League,” said Mata.

“It’s a long trip with two hours of time difference that will demand a quick adjustment.

“After winning the first game in the group stage it would be great to do the same in such a top clash.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is looking to maintain his good early-season form (
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Cavendish Press)
Joel Pereira and Anthony Martial join the fun (
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Cavendish Press)

“CSKA Moscow is a classic in European football. They won all their games in the two previous ties before the group stage, which they have started with an extraordinary victory in Lisbon.

Hey look, it's Scott McTiminay! (
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Cavendish Press)

“Needless to say, it’s going to be a very difficult game, as they all are in the Champions League anyway.”

Mourinho's side kept level on points with Premier League leaders Manchester City with their hard-fought win at Saints at the weekend.

“The win was really tough to get,” said Mata. “They didn’t let us play our game and they had chances to tie the score until the end.

“The truth is they didn’t deserve to lose but football is like that sometimes. We know a couple of things about it, since we were in the same situation several times last season.

“It was not our best game, that’s for sure, but luckily we managed to get the three points.

“This kind of games can make the difference between reaching the end of the season with a chance to fight for the title or not.”

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