Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho refuses to inflame relations with referee Jon Moss

After reaching the English Football League Cup final on the day of his 54<sup>th birthday, Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho would have good reason to be cheerful. Despite defeat to Hull City at the KCOM Stadium, Mourinho's side will face Southampton at Wembley on 26 February as the Portuguese coach seeks his fourth winners' medal in this competition.

United lost 2-1 on the night, but secured their path to Wembley with a 3-2 victory on aggregate.

However, the ex-Chelsea and Real Madrid boss was not in the mood to party after being asked to react to his side reaching the final and his post-match interview lasted just 32 seconds.

Trailing 2-0 from the first leg, Tom Huddlestone's penalty halved the deficit to give the Tigers hope at the break.

Paul Pogba toe-poked United level on the night and all but secure a berth in the final before Oumar Niasse scored his first goal since arriving on loan from Everton, with five minutes left, to set up a grand stand finale. The visitors held on, but that did nothing to improve Mourinho's mood at the full-time whistle.

Mourinho was notably incensed by a number of decisions made by referee Jon Moss, who he has had several run-ins with in the past. Moss first awarded Hull a spot-kick after minimal contact between Marcos Rojo and Harry Maguire in the first half, before denying both Pogba and Chris Smalling penalty shouts after the interval.

The United manager was sent from the touchline by Moss and banned for one match after kicking a water bottle in a Premier League match against West Ham United earlier this term.

In October 2015, Mourinho called Moss "f**king weak" and had to be escorted from the referee's office after being dismissed during the defeat to the Hammers at Upton Park.

Unwilling to further stir tensions between himself and one of the Premier League's elite officials, Mourinho produced a flat response when asked to react to the game – in an effort to prevent him being punished further by the authorities.

"I just want to say congratulations to my players because it was a difficult road to be in the final," he told Sky Sports. "I don't want to say anything else because this is enough. I am calm; I behaved on the bench no sendings off, no punishments so no more words."