The Asian Age

Mourinho rules out Ronaldo move after United rout Galaxy

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Los Angeles, July 16: Jose Mourinho ruled out any attempt to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford after Manchester United opened their US tour here on Saturday with a 5-2 rout of the Los Angeles Galaxy.

United manager Mourinho is keen to bolster his ranks further after already strengthen­ing his squad with the additions of Victor Lindelof and Romelu Lukaku.

But the Portuguese manager poured cold water on the possibilit­y of an attempt to prise United legend Ronaldo away from Real Madrid.

“I’m not going to waste my time thinking about players who are mission impossible,” Mourinho told reporters after the win.

Earlier, England striker Marcus Rashford scored twice with Marouane Fellaini, Anthony Martial and Henrikh Mkhitaryan bagging United’s other goals in a one-sided victory in front of 25,667 fans at the StubHub Center.

New striker Lukaku was unable to get in on the goals after a 45-minute debut in the second half.

Lukaku missed one golden chance four minutes into his United debut, with his shot saved by Galaxy goalkeeper Brian Rowe.

However Mourinho was satisfied with Lukaku’s “unselfish” display in leading the line.

“Lukaku is a target man, he plays with his back to opponents,” said.

“A good thing today for me is to see that he’s a team player. He’s not selfish. He’s not obsessed with goals.

“He was not that worried about himself, he was worried about the improvemen­t of the team.”

Rashford meanwhile reminded Mourinho of his eye for goal with a confident Mourinho first-half display.

The teenager opened the scoring after only two minutes, punishing an error from Ariel Lassiter near the Galaxy penalty area to dart in on goal and place his finish beyond goalkeeper Jon Kempin.

The 19-year-old doubled his tally in the 20th minute, latching onto a clever pass from Juan Mata to make it 2-0.

 ?? — AFP ?? Manchester United’s Romelu Lukaku (left) and Ashley Cole of Los Angeles Galaxy vie for the ball in their preseason friendly in Carson, California, on Saturday. United won 5-2.
— AFP Manchester United’s Romelu Lukaku (left) and Ashley Cole of Los Angeles Galaxy vie for the ball in their preseason friendly in Carson, California, on Saturday. United won 5-2.
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