Cape Town - Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes they were fully in control of their EFL Cup victory over Northampton Town at Sixfields Stadium on Wednesday.
Michael Carrick had opened the scoring for the Red Devils on 17 minutes, before an Alex Revell penalty three minutes before half time meant the visitors had to step it up after the break.
United responded through Ander Herrera on 68 minutes and Marcus Rashford, who put the game to bed with 15 minutes still to play.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Mourinho said: "We deserved it. It was as I was expecting. We were totally in control for the first 35 minutes and then we were back in control for the last 25 minutes."
With the result still very much in doubt at 1-1, Mourinho replaced Memphis Depay with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Timothy Fosu Mensah with Rashford.
Mourinho added: "As a team we had control from the beginning. I think the substitutions were just a contribution and, overall, the team was completely in control.
"The game could and should have been easier, because normally it is easier against 10 men - we should have been playing against 10 men very early in the second-half. But they fought and they played with their strength.
"They tried to cause us problems, which they did at times, so it was a difficult match but overall it was a positive performance."