Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho escapes Uefa punishment for water bottle incident

United qualified for the knock-out stages of the Champions League courtesy of Marouane Fellaini’s stoppage-time strike

Jose Mourinho will not be punished by Uefa for his exuberant celebrations of Manchester United’s late winner against Young Boys, despite throwing a basket of water bottles into the ground.

United qualified for the knock-out stages of the Champions League courtesy of Marouane Fellaini’s stoppage-time strike having struggled to break down Young Boys, the reigning Swiss champions.

Mourinho celebrated Fellaini’s winning goal by kicking one basket of water bottles over, then hurling another over his shoulder and into the turf.

The United manager was sent to the stands and received a one-match touchline ban in November 2016 after kicking a water bottle during a goalless Premier League draw with West Ham United.

However, Mourinho will not face similar punishment from Uefa after European football’s governing body decided against opening disciplinary proceedings.

When asked to explain his celebration on Tuesday night, Mourinho said it was a sign of his ‘relief’ with Fellaini’s winner and also ‘frustration’ at how close United came to another goalless draw.

“Relief, frustration before that and relief with the goal. I think we didn’t play for that, we didn’t play for 0-0, to be in trouble until the last minute, so frustration,” he said.

“I was not unhappy with the players, not at all,” he insisted. “Frustrated with the fact that we couldn’t score, yes, but my players were very tired at the end and that’s what I love, I want them to be very tired.

“It means they give everything, and they did that with moments of very good football, moments of quality, moments of hypothetical beautiful goals and also moments of pressure, moments of lack of confidence that frustrate us.”