Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Jose Mourinho reveals why Romelu Lukaku refused to celebrate his Manchester United goal

The Portuguese also refused to give up on the title race despite the 11-point gap

Steve Madeley
The Hawthorns
Sunday 17 December 2017 19:09 GMT
Comments
Lukaku refused to celebrate his second goal in a week
Lukaku refused to celebrate his second goal in a week

Jose Mourinho warned Manchester City that his Manchester United side will not let up in the Premier League title race after they held on for a 2-1 victory at West Brom.

United won thanks to goals from Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard but were forced to defend late on after Gareth Barry pulled a goal back for Albion.

Mourinho refused to be drawn on a video leaked on social media of City’s players taunting his club over their style of play by singing ‘park the bus’.

But he did insist that United will not ease off until the end of the season despite City’s 11-point lead in the title race.

“I know that the questions are always coming in the same direction and I keep saying the same,” said Mourinho. “Our last match in the Premier League is Watford at Old Trafford, in mid-May, and until then in every match we go - every match we will try to win.

“If people ask that question to us and then you do it to the third team and the fourth and to the fifth and to the sixth, probably they will disappear. Probably they want to go on holidays. We don’t want to go on holidays. We want to play until the last match.”

Mourinho refused to comment on the leaked City video but urged pundits to make their own judgements.

“I didn’t see, I didn’t watch,” he said. “I am not interested in doing that. You are the ones to make your evaluations, your comments. For me, nothing.”

Lukaku refused to celebrate his opening goal against the club where he launched his Premier League with a successful season on loan and Mourinho claimed the Belgian might have taken his lead from his manager.

“I think two reasons,” said Mourinho of Lukaku’s non-celebration. “One is his love for West Bromwich Albion. He was a happy kid here, they helped him to feel loved, they made him feel at home

“It was here he exploded in the Premier League. So for sure there was that. And probably the second thing is he looked at me and I didn’t celebrate too, so he says ‘if he doesn’t celebrate why should I celebrate?’

“You get more experienced, you get more balanced. You don't go crazy when you win. You don’t get depressed when you lose. You are much more stable with experience.

“Some other managers, they are different, and they don’t change. I change. If I score a goal in the last minute you will see me run, for sure, for sure. But a goal in minute twenty-something, 1-0 with a lot to play …. Let’s play.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in