MOURINHO PINPOINTS ‘AMAZING’ LUKAKU
MANCHESTER UNITED STAR LEADS ROUT OF CSKA BY TAKING HIS TALLY TO 10 GOALS IN NINE GAMES
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho hailed the “amazing” goalscoring efforts of Romelu Lukaku after the Belgium striker’s two goals in last night’s 4-1 Champions League Group A win away to CSKA Moscow.
Lukaku took his tally to 10 in his first nine matches, bettering the record of club great Sir Bobby Charlton, who scored nine in the same number.
Anthony Martial was a stand-out performer, scoring a penalty and providing both crosses for Lukaku’s goals, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan making it four just after half-time. Sub Konstantin Kuchaev hit a 90th-minute consolation for the hosts.
“It is a great achievement but it is only possible with a good team,” said Mourinho.
“Without a good team it is not possible and the team is playing well. They are amazing numbers for Romelu.
“He is humble and wants to learn and improve all the time. I think ambition is there and I trust he can keep performing for us.”
Lukaku, himself, insists he is focusing on doing what is best for the team.
“I just want to win trophies, that’s all – goal targets I keep to myself. I just want to win and we have to keep going on like we did now,” he told BT Sport.
While United were never tested and hardly stretched by a CSKA team he rated the best he had faced in all his visits here as a manager, Mourinho is already concerned by the knock-on effect. His side host struggling Crystal Palace, point-less and goalless after six Premier matches, on Saturday afternoon.
The Portuguese boss believes his team – shorn of seven senior players who did not travel because of injury – have been put at a disadvantage to some of their rivals.
Liverpool, for example, played in Moscow on Tuesday and travel to Newcastle on Sunday.
“I think the performance can only be good for the team and the players,” he added.
“For the team confidence is good because six points in two matches in the Champions League puts us in a good position and for the players individually it is also good because we had very good performances.
“(Chris) Smalling and (Victor) Lindelof had very good performances, (Ander) Herrera has not started a match in a long time and had a good performance, so did Anthony Martial – and I am speaking about the players who are not starting matches.
“The Premier League is another story. We play Saturday three o’clock against a fresh team.
“We have to keep our feet on the ground, stay humble and follow our direction because we are having a very good start to the season.
“We have now just one more game, a difficult one (before the break).”