Jose Mourinho had special praise for substitute Ander Herrera after the Spanish midfielder helped transform the team and sparked their late goal blitz against Everton.

United were struggling to find a second goal when Mourinho turned to Herrera and the move paid off as his side scored three goals in nine minutes to record their fourth victory of the season and maintain their 100 per cent record at Old Trafford.

The 28-year-old midfielder started the game at Stoke last week, but was left out of the Champions League game against Basel and dropped down to the bench which gave him a major point to prove and he more than responded.

"I think if the result was two or 3-0 after 30 minutes I would say a clear reflection of fantastic football we played in the first 30 or 35 minutes," Mourinho said.

"Ultra dominant against a team that played with five, with four, and was difficult to play against, I think we played phenomenal in the first half-an-hour. Then they improved, they had a little bit more initiative, they bring a few more bodies into attacking areas, and they create us a couple of problems.

Jose Mourinho has special praise for Ander Herrera (
Image:
AFP)
Ander Herrera appears as a late substitute (
Image:
REX/Shutterstock)

"But then I think Ander was important, he gave us the stability that we were losing a little bit and then was only possible, in my view, 1-0 or 2-0, I never thought in the last 15 or 20 minutes it could be 1-1.

"The 2-0 come and after that the third and fourth goals are just a consequence of a team that was sad and another team that was happy, for me the third and fourth goal were a little bit out of context in the game."

Romelu Lukaku netted his seventh of the season against his former club and according to the Manchester Evening News , now has more goals than number nine predecessor Zlatan Ibrahimovic had at this stage last term.

Lukaku spurned a one-on-one against Jordan Pickford in the first-half but overcame that setback to score late on and Mourinho reiterated he is not applying pressure on the 24-year-old.

"He knows that from me there is no pressure for goalscoring," Mourinho added. "My pressure is for the tactical plan, for the organisation of the team, and he knew that I was totally happy with him, so no reason to lose any confidence.

"Again, his goal was the third. For me, the second goal was the most important not the third, but it's always nice for him, it's one more goal and strikers always like to score goals."