Lukaku: I Wanted Pogba to Take Penalty

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Romelu Lukaku has said he was happy to let Paul Pogba take a late penalty rather than go for a hat-trick in Saturday's win over Southampton.

Lukaku scored a pair of goals as Manchester United earned a hard-fought 3-2 win over Southampton at Old Trafford.

The Belgian had a chance to seal a hat-trick deep into stoppage time after Marcus Rashford was fouled by Stuart Armstrong in the box.

But, rather than take the penalty, Lukaku opted to hand the ball to team-mate Pogba, whose spot-kick was down the middle and stopped by a kick save from Angus Gunn.

Despite the miss, Lukaku had no regrets about giving Pogba the chance to score from the spot rather than try for a hat-trick himself.

"I am a striker and I wanted Paul Pogba to score the penalty," Lukaku said. "He has been on a good run but he has been an important player for us and will bounce back."

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