Pogba warns City that United will not give up the chase
Manchester United are motivated in their Premier League pursuit of Manchester City, says Paul Pogba, after they cut the gap to 12 points.
Paul Pogba insists Manchester United have not given up hope of hauling in Manchester City in the Premier League title race.
Jose Mourinho's team trimmed the gap at the summit to 12 points with a 3-0 win over Stoke City on Monday night after their rivals suffered a first top-flight loss of the season at Liverpool over the weekend.
Pogba was influential throughout, laying on fine first-half goals for Antonio Valencia and Anthony Martial against the struggling Potters, before Romelu Lukaku put the destination of the points beyond doubt 18 minutes from full-time.
"Obviously you see Manchester City are in front of us and they lost their first game," Pogba said after being named man of the match on Sky Sports.
"We always want to catch them so it was good for them to lose
"But we have to think about ourselves and think about winning because we have lost a lot of points.
"We're not looking to the past, we're looking to the next games. We just want to catch City, win the points that we lost and that's it.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
"We need to focus on ourselves, keep winning and I think we will be okay."
13 - Romelu Lukaku has had a hand in 13 goals in 16 appearances in all competitions for at Old Trafford this season (10 goals, 3 assists). Stage.January 15, 2018
United are reportedly favourites to secure the services of Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez, with neighbours City out of the race and Chelsea rumoured to be launching a late interest, but Pogba hailed the contribution of incumbent centre-forward Lukaku against struggling Stoke.
"Playing with Romelu, I can find him," he said. "Someone who can hold the ball when I pass it to him, then I can make my run – someone to score goals and make assists."
‘After Manchester City’s recent form, maybe they’re the underdogs against Manchester United!’ Former Red Devils defender on this weekend’s derby
‘Arteta, Alonso, Emery, me… none of us were physical players – we needed the understanding of the game. That probably helped us move into management’: Premier League boss reveals reasons for natural career progression