Three things we learnt as Manchester United secured an aggregate win over Saint Etienne

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Mourinho has turned United into a side hard to beat

After a run of only one loss in 29 competitive matches, saying that Jose Mourinho has made Manchester United hard to beat would almost seem to be stating the obvious.

Yet after three seasons of unconvincing defences and frequent glaring individual errors, Mourinho has firmly put his stamp on this current United side and made them look solid at the back.

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Other than the addition of Eric Bailly over the summer, United’s back-four (five including Marcos Rojo) have been at Old Trafford for over two years and have each been subject to intense criticism over previous years – yet against Saint Etienne, each defender looked in control of their game and confident.

This is a huge sign of Mourinho’s impact since arriving in Manchester, and Wednesday night signalled United’s sixth clean sheet in seven matches – showing that he’s put time and attention into his side’s defensive set-up, as well as given his more attacking players freedom up at the other end.

Bailly’s red-card may have slightly spoilt an otherwise seamless evening in France, but one thing that is becoming clear is United are set-up from the back, and this could prove key in their league run-in.