Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says Romelu Lukaku ‘fancied his chances’ against Dejan Lovren

Lukaku won two first-half headers which led to United's goals

Lukaku helped set up both goals (Getty)

Jose Mourinho said that Romelu Lukaku fancied his chances against Dejan Lovren, ahead of Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Liverpool.

The Belgian bullied the centre-half for two headers in the first half, with both of them directly leading to Marcus Rashford goals. While Mourinho insisted he didn’t “mechanically” target Lovren, he did speak of Lukaku’s confidence.

“We gave options to the players,” the Portuguese said.

“I am not the kind of mechanic coach that says A pass to B, B to C, C to D. We have different options. We have also the possibility of the long ball to [Scott] McTominay and to play against [Andy] Robertson in the air. Lukaku was confident from experience that could be dominant towards Lovren.”

Mourinho meanwhile praised his striker’s general contribution.

“Every press conference you come with Lukaku,” the United boss chided.

“I say the same. I don’t care about the goals. His performance was fantastic and he didn’t score. A few corners in the last minutes, he was there and dominant.”