Are you watching, Jose? Luke Shaw makes his old boss Mourinho eat his words with sublime deliveries for Harry Maguire and Harry Kane to score against Ukraine… just days after the Portuguese called his corners ‘dramatically bad’
- Luke Shaw assisted Harry Maguire’s goal in England’s Euro 2020 tie with Ukraine
- The left-back put in a brilliant cross from a free-kick for Maguire to head home
- Jose Mourinho claimed Shaw was not up to taking set pieces after the group ties
- Shaw has proved Mourinho wrong in Rome – where his ex-boss is located now
- Mourinho landed in the Italian capital on Friday to take over as AS Roma boss
Luke Shaw responded to Jose Mourinho’s criticism of his set-piece-taking ability by putting a perfect cross for Harry Maguire to head home England’s second goal against Ukraine.
The Manchester United left-back whipped in a brilliant delivery just one minute into the second-half so his England team-mate could put the Three Lions 2-0 up in their Euro 2020 quarter-final in Rome.
Shaw, who had a role in England’s third goal scored by Harry Kane, fell out with Mourinho at Old Trafford and exiled him from first-team duty due to concerns over his fitness.
Luke Shaw proved Jose Mourinho wrong by putting in a brilliant set-piece delivery for Harry Maguire’s goal in England’s Euro 2020 tie with Ukraine
Shaw’s free-kick fell perfectly to Maguire who headed home England’s second after half-time
Before the knockout stages, Mourinho criticised Shaw for his set-piece taking ability, with the Roma manager now being proved wrong in the city where he has just arrived.
Mourinho told The Times last month: ‘For me, he is not a guy to take set pieces or be in the box to win a duel in the air. He is very fast and a perfect position is to stay back on corners to cope with transitions.
‘But maybe Gareth needed a left foot or he did something very good in training that we didn’t see in the game. But no drama. Maybe against Germany he takes an amazing corner and England win from that. Fantastic.’
Mourinho, who fell out with Shaw at Man United, criticised the defender’s set-piece taking
Shaw’s cross happened in Rome – where Mourinho landed on Friday to start as Roma boss
Shaw’s delivery for Harry Maguire was hailed by BBC Sport commentator Jermaine Jenas, who described the cross as ‘beautifully whipped’.
He said on commentary duty: ‘Absolute delivery from Luke Shaw. He whipped that onto Harry Maguire’s head.
‘This is the one that Gareth Southgate is waiting for, bringing set pieces into the game. Look at the aggression, determination from Harry Maguire. He was never going to miss that one.
‘Massive goal for England, but that delivery from Luke Shaw – you can’t underestimate how beautifully whipped in that ball was.’
Shaw’s (front) cross for Maguire’s (back) goal was described as ‘beautifully whipped’
The England left-back hit back at Mourinho’s comments last week, stating that his set-piece taking in the group stage matches against Scotland and Czech Republic were not ‘as bad as he was saying’.
‘I don’t understand it,’ said Shaw, who had a wry smile when Mourinho’s comments came up. ‘I don’t know why he is still going on and wanting to point at me.
‘I don’t feel like the set-pieces were as bad as he was saying. I might have done one in the second half, a corner, that didn’t get over the first man. But that was one out of three. The other two or three, I don’t think, were as “dramatically bad” as he says.
Shaw (left) was slammed by Mourinho for his set-piece taking ability in the group stages
‘Look, he has got to do his job. I’m used to him saying negative stuff about me, so I just pass it by.
‘His voice is obviously very big. He likes to talk a lot about me, as everyone has seen recently. But his voice is his own. He can say what he wants, I will focus on myself. I take set-pieces at United, so it wasn’t as if it was something I wasn’t ready for.’
