Lukaku hits out at 'lies' after Pogba row report

Romelu Lukaku has hit out at "lies" after a media report claimed he had a row with Paul Pogba following Manchester United's Premier League defeat of Southampton. Lukaku had struck twice to help give United a 3-2 lead at Old Trafford on Saturday when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side were awarded a late penalty.

Pogba stepped up to take the spot-kick, rather than allowing Lukaku the chance to seal a hat-trick, and the France midfielder saw his effort saved by Southampton goalkeeper Angus Gunn.

"I am a striker and I wanted Paul Pogba to score the penalty," Lukaku said after the game. "He has been on a good run but he has been an important player for us and will bounce back. I was focused on the win and helping my team-mates."

But a report in British newspaper The Sun, which quoted an unnamed United source, claimed Pogba and Lukaku had a row over the penalty following the match and needed to be calmed down by Solskjaer. Lukaku appeared to respond to the report in a message he posted to social media early on Tuesday.

"When the hate don't work they start telling lies..." the Belgium striker wrote on Twitter.

Lukaku's post comes after the striker - who has hit 12 Premier League goals this season - complained about discrimination in the coverage he receives in the media.

"I'm a religious person and God always tells us always to forgive. But I don't forget," Lukaku said in an interview with OTRO. "That's why I don't give some media not even my attention, not even a look. You know sometimes you pay the price but I don't care.

"Even one reporter said, 'Thank God the mother of Romelu Lukaku didn't have a third child'. Can you imagine?! I'm not gonna kiss someone's a** to be loved. It depends which newspaper, though. There is one newspaper that everybody reads that they're like...I can say, 'You are all racists', you all know who you are."

March 2, 2019

United go to Paris Saint-Germain for the second leg of their last-16 Champions League tie on Wednesday, with Solskjaer's side seeking to overturn a 2-0 deficit. Pogba will miss the game through suspension after he was dismissed late on in last month's first leg at Old Trafford.