Henrikh Mkhitaryan received an apology from Jose Mourinho having been taken off at half-time against Derby, the Manchester United manager has revealed.
The Armenian's latest opportunity to impress lasted just 45 minutes as Mourinho hooked the midfielder for Romelu Lukaku following a goalless opening half where Mkhitaryan looked bereft of confidence.
At one point he sailed a cross way over its intended target and also misplaced a simple pass to groans from around Old Trafford.
Mkhitaryan has not scored for United since September and has completed 90 minutes just twice all season, yet Mourinho was apologetic when explaining his half-time withdrawal in a game his side went on to win 2-0.
"(It was) unfair. Unfair," he said.
"And I told that at half-time. I didn't like what I did. Unfair. He didn't deserve it.
"He was playing well, he was not playing bad. He had a couple of missed possessions but he was playing well, he was giving (a) good dynamic to the team.
"My feeling was just that (Marcus) Rashford is not going to score a goal. In the moment he's not going to score a goal. And because of that I'm not going to lose time and I'm going to play Romelu.
"And then I had to sacrifice a player and it was Micki the one that I sacrificed.
"But it's something that I normally don't do. I did at half-time. I apologised to him in front of the people because he didn't deserve (it)."