Jose Mourinho heaped praise on two-goal hero Romelu Lukaku as Manchester United outplayed West Ham 4-0 to march to the top of the Premier League.
Romelu Lukaku, who moved to Old Trafford for a staggering £75million transfer fee, enjoyed a dream Manchester United debut as he scored a brace to guide Mourinho’s side to an emphatic win.
Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba also found the net as the Red Devils thrashed Slaven Bilic’s side, but boss Mourinho accentuated that he was not getting carried away, despite the incredible victory.
Mourinho said: “Romelu scored in the Super Cup, scored twice today, he’s playing well and he’s working hard.”
“He likes the team and the team likes him. Strikers can play phenomenally well, but if they don’t score goals, the pressure’s on them.”
“So I think it was good for him to score and for all the guys arriving at new clubs who scored goals on their first games.”
“It’s always oxygen, it’s happiness and confidence for them.”
“Romelu knows we well. He knows sometimes strikers can play well but not score, but from me there will be no pressure.”
“But today was very good and he was very effective, with the first goal especially.”
Despite United’s brilliant start to the new season, Mourinho said that they had also won the first game last term but finished 24 points behind champions Chelsea.
“Last season we were also top after the first match and we finished sixth, so this means nothing,” said Mourinho.”
“I want to make it clear that we just played well and our confidence levels are high. Now the challenge is to keep those confidence levels.”
“We can be a better team than last season. Fans have reason to be optimistic, because we are also.”
“But for me, with years and years of experience in the Premier League, my feet are on the ground. I’m calm.”
Lukaku said: “To play in front of such a crowd and for such a great club it’s a dream come true.”
“When you play for Manchester United, you know everybody has their job and obviously mine is to score goals if they give me the ball.”
“The team did a good job, everybody was creative, everybody created a lot of chances and we scored a lot of goals. It’s promising.”
“But it’s just the start. We need to keep working. The manager has a plan, we try to follow his plan and hopefully it can take us somewhere.”
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic said: “United were better than us in every department, with and without the ball. Our confidence is low.”