Romelu Lukaku’s double strike gets Manchester United off to flying start

MANCHESTER UNITED 4, WEST HAM 0

Romelu Lukaku hit a League debut double while Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba also scored in what became Jose Mourinho’s biggest win as United manager.

The Hammers had brought ex-City players Joe Hart and Pablo Zabaleta to Manchester but also fielded ex-Red Javier Hernandez to entirely predictable reactions from the Stretford End in particular.

For about 20 minutes this opening day fixture could have been a part of last season’s dull fayre served up during many first halves at Old Trafford but new signing Nemanja Matic was quietly making things tick for the Reds.

Lukaku had already missed out on a tap-in from close range when Angelo Ogbonna intercepted a square pass from Juan Mata but the big Belgian was not to be denied.

Pedro Obiang’s attempted pass was blocked by Matic and the ball fell to Marcus Rashford who raced deep into the West Ham half supported by the big Serbian.

Rashford’s through ball allowed Lukaku to thrash the ball in off the upright for his first Premier League goal for United after 33 minutes.

De Gea was briefly called into action to save from Edimilson Fernandes before the break but the Reds raced out of sight in the second half.

United doubled their lead after Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s curling free kick was headed home by an unmarked Lukaku from 6 yards out in the 52nd minute.

The Belgian was denied a hat trick by a Zabaleta block while Hart saved a shot from Mkhitaryan and Rashford saw a fierce drive spin away across the face of goal after coming off the inside of the far post but United eventually put a gloss on the result at the end.

Substitute Martial added a third with two minutes to go before turning provider for Pogba who completed the rout in the 90th minute.