Pogba won't fight Young for Man United free-kick duties

Paul Pogba has insisted he will never fight for a free-kick or a penalty with any of his team-mates.

Published : Dec 01, 2017 16:27 IST

Ashley Young has been in sensational form over the last two Premier League matchweeks
Ashley Young has been in sensational form over the last two Premier League matchweeks
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Ashley Young has been in sensational form over the last two Premier League matchweeks

Paul Pogba says he will not fight Ashley Young over free-kick duties for Manchester United and praised his team-mate for his "confidence" against Watford.

Young scored twice in the 4-2 victory at Vicarage Road on Tuesday. His second goal an outstanding strike from a set-piece 25 yards from goal.

Read: Young's brace seals comfortable win for Man United

Manager Jose Mourinho admitted afterwards he was surprised to see Pogba allow the England international to take free-kicks, especially since the Frenchman was the one who drew the foul from Abdoulaye Doucoure in the first place. But Pogba insists he will let Young try his luck again in Saturday's crunch clash with Arsenal if he feels ready.

"To be honest, I won the foul and he just came and took the ball straight away," he told MUTV. "He didn't even speak because he was so confident. He took it and scored.

"But I would never fight for a free-kick or a penalty, or whatever, because we all want the same result. We want to score and we want to win the game. So I was very happy."

Asked who would take one against the Gunners, he replied: "The one who is feeling it the most. Ash just scored the goal at Watford so if he feels it then fine, or I feel it then I will tell him. We will see what happens in the game."

United head into the clash at Emirates Stadium eight points behind Premier League leader Manchester City and Pogba knows the importance of a positive result, especially with the derby at Old Trafford coming up on December 10.

Big match focus: Arsenal v Manchester United

"These games that are coming up are very important for the rest of the season," he said. "This is Manchester United and Arsenal, we don't want to lose to one of the big teams in England and they will want to beat us at their home.

"But we need three points to get closer to Manchester City. That is it. Away wins help you to win the league so they are very important, and it is a very important game this weekend."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger expects Alexandre Lacazette to miss the game through injury and Pogba is glad United will not have to worry about his France team-mate.

"Alex has been great and at this moment he is scoring goals and playing well for the team," he said. "He is a big player for them and if he is not there I would say it is good for us. I hope for us that he doesn't play because that will help us, but I also hope he doesn't have a bad injury."

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