Mourinho tells United supporters to stop giving Lukaku lip
JOSE MOURINHO has told Manchester United fans to get off Romelu Lukaku’s back. There were boos when Mourinho replaced Marcus Rashford, who had looked their most dangerous player, rather than Lukaku with Anthony Martial in this win. But his decision paid off as Lukaku flicked on David De Gea’s long clearance
MAN UNITED
for Martial to score the 81st-minute winner.
Lukaku has gone five games without a goal. But Mourinho says fans should not judge the striker purely on whether he scores. He said: “I’d like supporters to explain to me why they don’t support him because he gives everything and it is not fair when scoring the goal or not scoring the goal makes the difference.
“I’m disappointed but not with him. With him, I’m pleased. I don’t understand some reactions. Are they Red Devils? I don’t know because they [the strikers] work amazingly well.”
At the end of the game, Mourinho put his finger to
his lips in front of a TV camera but refused to clarify whether the gesture was aimed at media pundits or fans.
“Some people speak too much,” he said. “Enjoy the football. Don’t speak all the time, anticipating scenarios, trying to put pressure on people.”
But then he said: “They pay the ticket, they can do what they want. They can boo a player that doesn’t deserve to be booed. They can boo the manager.”
While unhappy with the reaction of some fans, Mourinho was delighted with the way his team responded to their first defeat of the season at Huddersfield, keeping an 11th clean sheet in 16 games in all competitions.
Dele Alli wasted Spurs’ one clear chance when it was still goalless. Then a lapse in concentration from their three central defenders let Martial in.
Jan Vertonghen admitted they were caught napping. He said: “We should have coped. It is hard to take. The difference between the teams is very small.”
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino refused to blame Harry Kane’s absence on the defeat but Tottenham do not look quite the same threat without their star striker.
He is hopeful Kane will return for the visit of Real Madrid on Wednesday but will not play him if there is a risk of aggravating his hamstring strain. “We will take the best decision for everyone,” he said. “It’s not the last game or a final where you would say, ‘OK, after that it’s holidays’.”
MAN UTD (3-4-1-2): De Gea 7; Bailly 7, Smalling 7, Jones 8; Valencia 6, Matic 7, Herrera 7, Young 8 (Darmian 90); Mkhitaryan 5 (Lingard 65, 6); Lukaku 6, Rashford 7 (Martial 70, 7). Booked: Valencia. Goal: Martial 81. NEXT UP: Benfica (h), tom CL. TOTTENHAM (3-4-3): Lloris 6; Alderweireld 6, Dier 6, Vertonghen 6; Aurier 6, Winks 6, Sissoko 5, (Dembele 62, 5), Davies 7; Eriksen 7, Son 6 (Llorente 62, 5), Alli 5. NEXT UP: Real Madrid (h), Weds CL. Referee: J Moss (W Yorkshire).