Jose Mourinho insists Romelu Lukaku is not celebrating scoring for Manchester United because he is maturing as a person.

The Belgian has received criticism after a poor spell in front of goal and once again displayed a subdued reaction after breaking the deadlock at the Hawthorns.

Mourinho defended his player's response though, seemingly taking aim at Manchester City as well after their wild celebrations in the derby last week.

"I didn't celebrate too," Mourinho said. "Nobody was happier than me. Fifteen years ago I look at myself celebrating goals.

"With maturity you go into levels that you control your emotions better.

Romelu Lukaku gives a subdued response to scoring (
Image:
Man Utd via Getty)

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho (
Image:
Action Images via Reuters)

United's players celebrate (
Image:
Getty Images)

"Romelu was a happy kid at West Brom [during his loan spell from 2012-13]. Maybe at the back of the mind it was his love for the club."

The gap is now 11 points to leaders Manchester City and Mourinho insists they deserved their victory despite a late scare.

"I think we deserved the win. We were the best team. I knew and the players knew that West Brom is very dangerous on set-pieces," Mourinho added.

"We controlled the game for a long, long time, then manager Alan Pardew reacts. We had a few chances to kill the game but I knew they would react."

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