‘Dream debut proves I can be a leader for Mourinho’

Romelu Lukaku described his two goals on his Premier League debut for Manchester United as “a dream come true”.

The Belgian striker, a £75million summer buy from Everton, said of his performance in front of a crowd of almost 75,000 at Old Trafford: “To play in front of such a crowd and for such a great club, it is a dream come true.

“The manager just wants someone to score goals and be a leader for the team, just to create as much as I can. The fans want attractive football and we need to create as much as we can and defend as well.” Lukaku’s barnstorming display earned praise from Jose Mourinho. “Romelu likes the team and the team like him,” said the United manager. “Strikers can play phenomenally well, but if they don’t score goals, the pressure’s on them.”

Nemanja Matic was also singled out for plaudits but Mourinho insisted he did not tap up the Serbia midfielder when he was at Chelsea.

“It depends what was happening behind doors, we don’t know,” Mourinho said when asked if he was surprised Chelsea agreed to sell to a direct rival. “I thought he was a player with special qualities and, since I left, I always felt he could be a perfect player for us. I didn’t disturb him, I didn’t think it was possible unless something special was happening. It was because his agent said we could have him and we are very happy with that.”

But while Mourinho congratulated his players for going for the jugular rather than settling for a “boring” end to the game, he said he would not read too much into the result, which has put his side top of the Premier League.

“Fans have reason to be optimistic because we are also,” Mourinho said. “But, for me, with years and years of experience in the Premier League, my feet are on the ground. I am calm.

“Last season we were also top after the first match and finished sixth so this means nothing. Now the challenge is to keep – I’m not saying this level of result – but keep the confidence levels. We can be a better team than last season.

“We lost two points against West Ham last season and had similar games where we were dominated. Today we got the three points.

“The reality is that in the last part of the game, instead of being boring and controlling the game, we scored a third goal and we could enjoy it.”