Dejan Lovren insists Romelu Lukaku kicked him in the face on purpose in Liverpool's draw with Manchester United

Lukaku will not be charged by the FA over the incident however

Dejan Lovren was left in a heap on the floor after the collision (Getty)

Dejan Lovren believes Romelu Lukaku kicked him in the face on purpose during Liverpool’s goalless draw with Manchester United on Saturday.

It had been announced that Lukaku would not be charged following the incident towards the end of the first half when his heel connected with the defender as he lay on the floor.

Lovren, who was speaking ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League fixture in Slovenia with Maribor, was asked immediately about his take on the development.

“I made a tackle. I just felt he was over me and he could have moved away but to be honest my honest view is that he did it on purpose,” Lovren said.

The Croatian was puzzled why Lukaku didn’t say sorry for what happened before reasoning the striker might have been more concerned with his subdued performance.

“Even if he did it, normally you would apologise but I saw that he was nervous during the game so maybe that was also the reason [why he didn’t apologise].”

Though Lovren insisted it was “time to move on,” it is doubtful his comments will be forgotten by Lukaku, nor his manager, Jose Mourinho.

“That happened on the pitch and it is over,” Lovren continued. “I cannot change it and no-one can change it so that is what I am thinking about.

“This is not my decision. I cannot say I am disappointed but it is what it is. We need to move on. That is football, part of the game.”

Lovren was not quite finished, however. He left another with another not-so-subtle dig, this time at United’s negative approach to the game.

“When we talk about clean sheets for me and the team it is more important we defend all together and we are focused straight away when we lose the ball. When we defended against Manchester United we did not even allow them to cross the centre of the pitch. We showed we can do it and now we have to show it against every team all season.”