Daily Mail

SO WHERE IS THE JOY, JOSE?

United win but Lukaku and Mourinho are sulking

- CHRIS WHEELER

IF JOSE MOURINHO wants people to be more positive about Manchester United, he might like to have a word with Romelu Lukaku.

For the second time in five days the striker celebrated a goal by, well, not celebratin­g. Stony-faced, arms hanging down by his sides, Lukaku seemed determined to prove a point again.

Mourinho claimed it was out of respect to West Bromwich Albion, where Lukaku spent a season on loan five years ago. That would be plausible were it not for the fact that he did the same thing after scoring a similar goal against Bournemout­h in midweek.

Nor did it stop Lukaku happily indulging in one of those jaunty celebratio­n routines with Jesse Lingard after the England midfielder had scored United’s second goal.

It was enough to reduce Manchester City’s lead at the top to 11 points. Still a daunting gap and probably why this did not feel like a moment for Mourinho and his players to get too excited. The United manager was hardly doing cartwheels himself when they scored. He put that down to what he called balance and experience, making another pointed reference to the ‘circus’ he finds so distastefu­l.

Mourinho is unhappy at the way Pep Guardiola and his team have been enjoying their scintillat­ing season, a point he made in person when the water bottles and milk began flying at Old Trafford last week.

He is also irked by the unkind comparison­s between the festival of football in full swing down the road and his more pragmatic

approach. The problem is that by making their points so obviously, he and Lukaku are coming across as rather joyless.

Of course, it is easy to understand Mourinho’s frustratio­n. In most other seasons, a return of 41 points from 18 games would be very decent. But City are tearing up the record books and casting a shadow over their neighbours.

The ramificati­ons of their derby defeat are still being felt around Old Trafford, and no one seems to have taken it more personally than Lukaku. United’s £ 75million striker appears to be sulking after he was criticised for contributi­ng to both City goals and again failing to score against a top club.

Lukaku finds it easier to find the net against those teams outside the traditiona­l Big Six (31 in 39 games) as he demonstrat­ed here.

West Bromwich had already got away once with leaving 5ft 10in Kieran Gibbs to mark Lukaku, but they paid for it when the 6ft 3in Belgian headed United in front after 26 minutes.

It came from a Jonny Evans clearance which Juan Mata brought under control 25 yards from goal. The Spaniard fed Marcus Rashford on the left and he decided to cross rather than take on two defenders. The youngster’s delivery was perfect for Lukaku, who rose above Gibbs to glance a header past Ben Foster.

United went 2-0 ahead with a bit of help from the home side in the 35th minute when Mata’s pass gave Lingard an opportunit­y to shoot from the edge of the area, but the effort was unlikely to have troubled Foster until Ahmed Hegazi stuck out his left leg and diverted the ball past the keeper.

‘Park the bus, park the bus Man United,’ sang the away fans sarcastica­lly, and at that point United were good value for their two-goal lead.

That should have been it against a West Brom team without a goal in their first three games under Alan Pardew. Credit to the manager, though, his side took the game to United after half-time and Antonio Valencia made a crucial interventi­on to stop Salomon Rondon reaching Oliver Burke’s cross before they pulled one back in the 77th minute. United struggled to deal with a corner from the right as Evans tried to meet it and the ball bounced back off Marcos Rojo. Evans had another go at it but missed, and Gareth Barry turned it over the line from close range.

It set up a tense finish for United in which they were forced to defend deep and, at times, desperatel­y as Albion threw everything at them. Mourinho’s side held on, though, and that was reason for a little satisfacti­on, if not celebratio­n.

 ??  ??
 ?? GETTY IMAGES PA ?? Cut above: Lukaku beats Gibbs in the air to head home Laughing Lingard: At least matchwinne­r Jesse Lingard is happy after scoring as he spells out his initials J and L in his celebratio­n
GETTY IMAGES PA Cut above: Lukaku beats Gibbs in the air to head home Laughing Lingard: At least matchwinne­r Jesse Lingard is happy after scoring as he spells out his initials J and L in his celebratio­n

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom