Jose Mourinho was delighted to see Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku get off the mark on his Premier League debut and believes it is very important for strikers to score early.
The Belgian bagged a brace against West Ham in a 4-0 win to continue his incredible form against the Hammers, who are the club he has scored against most in his career.
He opened the scoring for United with a superbly taken effort that went in off the post and doubled the lead with a simple header after losing his marker from a set-piece.
And Mourinho says the goal will do wonders for Lukaku’s confidence, especially after so many debutants – such as one-time target Alvaro Morata – netted in their first appearances earlier this weekend.
‘It is always important. New players in new clubs, new strikers that everybody expects goals from. The pressure is with them,’ Mourinho told Sky Sports.
‘Nice for Morata to score, nice for Wayne Rooney to score, nice for Lukaku to score. And probably others that I don’t know- Lacazette! I think it’s nice for their confidence.’
Although United romped to victory and now top the table, Mourinho is refusing to get carried away and believes the scoreline did not reflect what a tough fight West Ham put up.
He continued: ‘The fact that we start winning and we are top of the league means nothing. I think last season it was the same, but it means nothing.
‘The performance, and the level of confidence is what means for me. I think we lost two points against West Ham last season. We had games where we dominated and didn’t score enough goals but this time we did.’
Mourinho added: ‘I don’t think the game was 4-0. Then of course you score the third goal and you breathe and relax and 10 more minute you score more goals but the reality is that it was a difficult game.’
MORE : Romelu Lukaku joins select group with brace on Premier League debut for Manchester United
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