Manchester United forward Romelu Lukaku, celebrates after scoring against Real Salt Lake during the first half of a friendly soccer match Monday, July 17, 2017, in Sandy, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Romelu Lukaku opened his goal scoring account for his new club Manchester United on Monday as the Red Devils defeated Real Salt Lake 2-1 in a pre-season friendly that took place in Utah.
It took the new signing from Everton 38 minutes in his second game under manager Jose Mourinho to score the winning goal of the match, which took place two days after their 5-2 victorious match agains LA Galaxy. Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored the other goal for United to cancel out Luis Silva’s 20th minute opener for the home side.
Lukaku, who moved from Everton to the Old Trafford side last week, said, “I’m delighted with the win for the team. I’m here to score goals and to be sort of the focal point for the team but at Manchester United we play to win, and that’s my mentality when I get on the pitch and everything else comes with it.”
The aggressive match saw Spanish midfielder Juan Mata forced off the pitch after a a foul on Sebastian Saucedo for which Antonio Valencia was shown a red card. Italian defender Matteo Darmian also faced an injury during the match.
Mourinho, however, did not look happy with the referee for giving his team member a red card. He denied the referee’s request to substitute the player. “I didn’t because I don’t agree with the card,” said Mourinho. “Because Saucedo, I think is the name of the boy, he was really aggressive during all of the second-half.”
“Mata has a (swollen) ankle but I hope it is nothing important,” the Portuguese manager told media. “A few days, a week, probably. Darmian’s problem is not an important one.”
