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Romelu Lukaku scored his sixth Premier League goal of the season to give Manchester United a hard-fought victory at Southampton.
Lukaku broke the deadlock on 20 minutes, converting the rebound after Saints goalkeeper Fraser Forster parried his header from Ashley Young’s cross.
The result maintains United’s unbeaten start to their league campaign, although they are second in the table, behind Manchester City on goal difference.
Their latest victory was not routine as Southampton piled on the pressure in the second half, and United’s Marouane Fellaini had to head Oriol Romeu’s header off the line.
In a bizarre end to the match, referee Craig Pawson sent United boss Jose Mourinho to the stand.
Asked why he had been dismissed, Mourinho said: “I don’t know. You have to ask the referee.”
He was then asked if he went on the pitch, and replied: “No, I don’t think so.”
‘I was not expecting him match after match to score’ – what they said
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said: “It is not always possible for high quality, but we fought hard. We did for 25 minutes what many teams do for 90 minutes – to have five at the back and defend.
“We had two chances to kill the game, which is what we felt we could do, but credit to them, they tried to play, they sent on a second striker to play more direct but we fought really hard and I am happy.
“The majority of our players did not play in the midweek match [against Burton in the Carabao Cup]. Maybe it was the heat because we don’t see the sun in Manchester often. I felt the boys were not sharp, so the option was to go for the points.
“The way we attack is something we are doing since the start of the season, to defend like that was the first time that had happened to us this season.
On striker Romelu Lukaku, who scored his eighth goal for United in all competitions, Mourinho added: “I knew he would score goals, more for us than he did for Everton or West Brom, that is logical, but I was not expecting him match after match to put the ball in the net.
“He is a striker that is scoring goals, but his work is so important for us and he worked hard like everybody else.”