Lukaku slams The Sun for ‘telling lies’ over Pogba fight

Matt Stead

Romelu Lukaku has branded suggestions that he had a ‘dramatic bust-up’ with Paul Pogba as ‘lies’.

The Sun claimed on Tuesday that the Manchester United pair had argued over the penalty that Pogba took against Southampton on Saturday, despite Lukaku being on a hat-trick.

United overcame a difficult Saints side at Old Trafford, eventually winning 3-2 thanks in part to Lukaku’s two goals.

The Belgian was named our early winner but did not have the chance to complete his hat-trick as Pogba, the club’s designated penalty taker, overruled him when Marcus Rashford was fouled in the area.

Pogba missed the subsequent penalty, which The Sun suggest led to a ‘dramatic bust-up’ in the dressing room. Did they all dress up in Shakespearean garb?

Neil Custis (yes, we know) reports that Lukaku ‘reminded Pogba how he supported him’ against former manager Jose Mourinho.

Apparently not, as it happens.

Lukaku added that ‘he would have let him take it if the roles had been reversed’.

But Pogba stood his ground, insisting that ‘as the usual taker he had every right to take it’.

The Sun claimed that Solskjaer had to step in to defuse the ‘stern conversation’, telling the pair to ‘put it behind them’, but Lukaku has denied the argument ever happened.

The forward, who referred to “one newspaper” as “all racists” recently, made a not-so-cryptic tweet slamming those who ‘start telling lies’.

Belgian journalist Kristof Terreur also referenced Lukaku’s post-match interview, in which he said: “I am a striker and I wanted Paul Pogba to score the penalty, he has been on a good run but he has been an important player for us.”