Jose Mourinho blames Gary Neville for decision to substitute Marcus Rashford

Manchester United tightened their grip on second place on Saturday afternoon.

A 2-1 victory over old foes Liverpool saw them open up a five-point gap over their rivals, a result that goes a long way to guaranteeing the club are back in the Champions League next season. Marcus Rashford was responsible for both United's goals before half-time, but was later replaced by Marouane Fellaini as Jose Mourinho looked to close out the game. The decision to bring off Rashford, whose pace on the counter seemed to be a good outlet for United in the game's closing stages, clearly came as a surprise to many of those in attendance at Old Trafford. Speaking after the game, Mourinho explained how Gary Neville had played a part in the decision to substitute the 20-year-old. Rashford had been booked by Craig Pawson for a first-half foul on James Milner, and Neville - on co-commentary duty for Sky Sports - suggested he might have been shown a second yellow for a separate challenge on Trent Alexander-Arnold. Wary that the referee might have been influenced by Neville's comments, Mourinho said this partly contributed to his decision to bring him off. "At half-time somebody told me that Gary Neville was asking for Marcus Rashford to get a red card," Mourinho said. "I was scared because I thought maybe the referee was watching at half-time and was influenced by Gary." https://twitter.com/BeanymanSports/status/972520449539280896 Fortunately, it seems Neville saw the funny side to the United boss' comments. https://twitter.com/GNev2/status/972532723775692800