Lukaku praised for United debut
Mourinho rules out Ronaldo return to Old Trafford
New Manchester United signing Romelu Lukaku was unable to score a debut goal in the side’s 5- 2 friendly win over LA Galaxy on Saturday but the Belgian striker earned high praise for a solid allround performance.
“He is a team player. He is not selfish and not obsessed with goals,” manager Jose Mourinho told reporters of a player who moved to Old Trafford from Premier League rivals Everton in the previous week.
“He was not worried about himself, he was worried about the improvement of the team. So that’s all good.”
The 24- year- old Belgian cost United a reported 75 million pounds ($ 98.27 million).
The match, played at the intimate 27,000- seat Stubhub Center in Los Angeles, also saw Mourin
ho hand a debut to Swedish defender Victor Lindelof, a 35 million euro acquisition who came on as a second- half substitute.
United wasted little time taking control of the contest, scoring early and often to the delight of a partisan crowd that favored the Red Devils despite their status as the visiting team.
The home side are halfway through the domestic campaign and opted to rest several players, their replacements looking sloppy and uninspired in a match that was effectively over once Marcus Rashford had bagged two goals in the first 20 minutes.
Marouane Fellaini, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Matrial added the other goals for the visitors, before Galaxy replied with two consolation strikes through Giovani dos Santos and Dave Romney in the closing stages.
Manchester United made 11 changes to the side that led 3- 0 at halftime as the home side improved after the break in a match watched by former Red Devils and Galaxy star David Beckham, whose appearance on a video screen was greeted with a loud roar.
Mourinho also ruled out any attempt to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford.
Mourinho is keen to bolster his ranks further after already strengthening his squad with the additions of Lukaku and Lindelof. But the Portuguese manager poured cold water on the possibility of an attempt to prize 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.