Jose Mourinho launches the water bottles in reaction to Fellaini’s goal

It was not the greatest look, booting the bottles in some sort of angry celebration then hurling a whole tray into the astroturf surround.

After all, this was a Young Boys team that has now managed only a single point from their five Champions League matches.

And this was mighty Manchester United relying on an illegal added-time goal to scrape past them.

Indeed, rather than kicking the canisters, Jose Mourinho might have looked a little shamefaced.

To complete automatic qualification, he needed a quite stunning David de Gea save followed by a Route One winner that involved the scorer, Marouane Fellaini, setting himself up with a handball offence.

To avoid making it five Old Trafford matches this season without scoring and to record only a fourth home win in ten games, he had to rely on the hoary old trick of launching one into the mixer and picking up the pieces.

Luke Shaw’s punt, Romelu Lukaku’s flick and Fellaini’s finish from ten yards.

But Mourinho’s vigorous assault on the energy drinks – he was banned for a game and fined £16,000 for kicking a single bottle two years’ ago, don’t forget – was provoked by pure relief.

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We are not just talking about the relief of making it to the knockout stages without facing a nervy night in Valencia.

No, Mourinho knew that another failure to score would have brought a deluge of criticism.

He needed this Fellaini goal more than many in his managerial career, especially after the weekend debacle.

They were not as poor, not as listless, as they were at the weekend but, then again, Young Boys were no Crystal Palace.

When Mourinho mounted his no heart/no desire offensive on Saturday evening, the accused went unidentified.

Until the teamsheet dropped for this engagement, presumably.

Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku were to be found on the bench while Alexis Sanchez and Ashley Young were nowhere to be seen.

Mind you, Mourinho’s pre-match explanation of Marcus Rashford’s inclusion was, basically, that he had bowed to public and media pressure.

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United are through to the last 16 of the Champions League after beating Young Boys (Image: Action Images via Reuters)
It was hardly the most resounding vote of confidence and his faith in Rashford was soon tested.

Shaw sent his England team-mate clear but Rashford lifted his effort over the advancing David von Ballmoos and over the crossbar

Mourinho stretched his arms wide, turned, folded his arms theatrically and fixed his staff with a told-you-so look.

Apparently, it drew wrath from Gary Lineker but let’s not get overly sensitive about this – it was a bad miss so an expression of frustration in the technical area was hardly surprising.

But while an attacking three of Rashford, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard did squander chances and half-chances, they did offer a higher level of dynamism than United fans have seen of late.

Still, they did dash down too many blind alleys, take too many wrong options and run offside on too many occasions.

That is why Mourinho’s exasperation was threatening to hit somewhere near peak levels as this very ordinary Swiss team actually began to show some adventure.

His head-shaking certainly went into overdrive when Fellaini put a sitter into one of the many empty seats.

That was the cue for Lingard and Fred to make way for Lukaku and Pogba.

Convincing the world’s best keeper there is a successful long-term future for him to enjoy at United is becoming an increasingly mightier task.

And while Mourinho celebrated it with considerable, if undignified, gusto, it might well take more than dodgy late Fellaini winners against European minnows to convince De Gea that trophy-winning prospects are bright at United.

They are through but, in the unlikely event they went unspilt, there was little else to raise a bottle to.

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