Henrikh Mkhitaryan praised by Jose Mourinho after netting first goal for Manchester United: 'He has a strong mentality and is determined to fight'

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Jose Mourinho paid tribute to Henrikh Mkhitaryan after Manchester United's summer signing scored his first goal for the club on Thursday night.

Mkhitaryan admitted on the eve of this game that he has been to blame for his slow start in England, missing 11 games after a disappointing debut against Manchester City in September when he was replaced at half-time.

And Mourinho praised the Armenian's strength of character, saying: 'He has a strong mentality. He was determined to fight against his difficult adaptation and he's doing that in the best way.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan opens the scoring for Manchester United after going on a mazy run

The former Borussia Dortmund star wheels away to celebrate his first goal for United

'If you work really hard physically, and technically, we knew the talent was there. The talent was what we bought, we knew what we were buying.

'Now he is playing good in the Premier League and in the Europa League, now the goal means a bit more happiness for him.'

Mourinho thought that his team more than deserved their win after a series of poor results in the Premier League.

'One thing is to play bad and get bad results,' he added. 'That kills confidence and is more difficult to cope with.

'But when you play well and don't win matches you always have the hope that good results have to come.

'The reality is that nobody was better than us. We have so many disappointing results but nobody was better than us.

Jose Mourinho paid tribute to Mkhitaryan after the United man scored his first goal for the club

The United players mob Mkhitaryan after the summer signing scored in Thursday night's win

'That's the way the players' brains work, we were always better than our opponents and that plays a part.'

Opponents Zorya Luhansk face action from UEFA after their fans lit a red flare after snatching a banner from United supporters at half-time, and also threw a firecracker at goalkeeper Sergio Romero.

'The support was beautiful and they don't need that to make it more beautiful because they make it dangerous for the goalkeeper,' said Mourinho.

'You don't need these things. Maybe UEFA are not happy and take some money from Zorya, and Zorya don't deserve that.' 

A view from behind the goal as ex-Shakhtar star capped off his return to Ukraine with a goal

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mkhitaryan celebrate the latter's second-half goal in Ukraine