Jose Mourinho defends Marouane Fellaini mistake

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has defended Marouane Fellaini following his mistake in the Community Shield against Leicester City this afternoon.

The Belgian was at fault for Leicester's equalising goal when he sold David de Gea short with a back-pass, allowing Jamie Vardy to steal in and level things up at Wembley.

United went on to win the match 2-1 courtesy of Zlatan Ibrahimovic's late header, and Mourinho claimed that the pitch was to blame for Fellaini's error.

"I think it is the mistake of the slow pitch. Before the game I put my hand on the surface and I thought we were in trouble because we want a fast pitch, but this pitch is really slow. Good pitch, but slow," he told BT Sport.

"I don't know if they put water on and the atmosphere killed it immediately, I don't know if they forgot to do it, but the reality was very slow. Marouane gives a back-pass and the ball slows down, and Vardy is there for that because the guy smells everything and is really fast."

Mourinho will take charge of his first Premier League match as United manager away to Bournemouth next Sunday.