Jose Mourinho failed to give any credit to Watford and blamed bad luck and poor refereeing decisions on their 3-1 defeat at Vicarage Road this afternoon.

Manchester United were second best for much of the game and two late goals from the Hornets sent Mourinho's side to their third consecutive defeat in all competitions.

But the United boss felt his team did not deserve to lose and insisted decisions went against them during the game.

He claimed Miguel Britos fouled Anthony Martial in the build-up to Etienne Capoue's opening goal.

Mourinho said: One [factor] is the referee’s crucial mistakes which I cannot control. I have nothing to do with it. I can’t change that and it’s not under my control. Today you know what happened with the first goal. We were punished by this mistake and I can’t do anything.

“Lucky and unlucky is part of the game and normally you say lucky gives a lot of work and this is what I really believe. But sometimes there are moments in your favour, which go against you and today our best moment, we were almost winning the game and we lost.

“We have to improve individually and collectively no doubt. That’s my job because lady luck you don’t control and referee’s mistakes we don’t control."

Watford Observer:

Mourinho felt the visitors were in control of the game in the second half but was critical of his team's defending for Juan Camilo Zuniga's goal in the 83rd minute.

The United manager said: “I think at 1-1 everyone thinks that you are going to win the game because we were showing complete control with intensity and concentration. We were in control so at 1-1 the tendency of the game was there to win and never to lose.

"But their second goal is a mistake that goes against our plan and our training because our intention was for their wing backs to be pressed and not let them progress.

“What happened was the guy gets the ball 25m away from our box and instead of pressing we gave him space to progress and then one against one is inside of the box and then you are not confident enough to tackle.

"The second goal comes from that completely against the normal tendency of the game."