Jose hails Lukaku as Utd beat Chelsea

JOSE MOURINHO hailed Romelu Lukaku’s ability to bounce back from a difficult start as the Belgian inspired a Manchester United fightback to beat Chelsea 2-1 at Old Trafford.

Lukaku cancelled out Willian’s opener with his first United goal against top six Premier League opposition before crossing for Jesse Lingard to head home the winner 15 minutes from time.

“I think he played fantastically well,” said Mourinho on Lukaku’s performance.

“The team didn’t start well, didn’t start very confident, happened the same to him... he was a little bit lost but then he went together with the team. He ended the game with the image of a hand in the goal.”

Victory against his former club was particularly sweet for Jose Mourinho as he got one over on Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, but more importantly moves United back above Liverpool into second place in the Premier League.

“It’s a good day for me and we won so that’s the most important thing,” said Lukaku.

“To get the winner would have been even better for me, but to get the goal before halftime was really important for us. We showed our qualities and our desire in the second half.”

Mourinho, who had declared his feud with Chelsea counterpart Conte to be over, praised both teams, saying: “We beat a fantastic team, they were the champions last season, and they played well against Barcelona (in their midweek Champions League match), and they started the game very well,” he said.

“So we beat a very good team, we had to be organised, everybody had to follow the game plan and have spirit.”

The visitors enjoyed the better of the first period but failed to build on Willian’s 32nd minute opener.

“We had to be more clinical, instead we kept the game open, and the opponent made us pay. Manchester United are a great team, and we must be disappointed, because I repeat today, we could have done better.”

Conte also called for increased use of video assistance (VAR) after a late effort by Alvaro Morata was disallowed by the narrowest of offside decisions.

“I must be honest, I didn’t see the situation, but if you’re telling me Alvaro Morata wasn’t offside, I think VAR is very important, especially in England,” he said.

“There are a lot of moments in the game where there are things to super-check.

“I think the draw was the fair result for this game. But we are talking about a defeat and that’s all.” – AFP