Both the Red Devils and West Ham will be on the road in Week 2 of the new season, with Mourinho's side set to face Swansea City in south Wales while the Hammers head to Southampton. Mourinho's United have developed a reputation for playing a defensive game at times, lacking in attacking impetus, but the strength of their summer additions suggested early on that that's all set to change.
Debutant Nemanja Matic started alongside Paul Pogba and immediately showcased why the club spent a reported £40 million on his signature. One of West Ham's own summer arrivals, Marko Arnautovic, stood out as one of their more promising performers in the opening period, but the guests were consistently fighting upstream to sway any momentum in their favour.
Former Red Devil Javier Hernandez had a disappointing first 45 minutes on his return to Old Trafford, which contrasted with the opening display from Lukaku, who was close to seeing a few chances open up in the first half-hour. He eventually found the metre of space he needed on 33 minutes, when Marcus Rashford's darting run toward the Hammers defence opened up a void behind enemy lines.
The Belgian ran free and pinged a left-footed shot in off Joe Hart's left post to maintain a dominating run of form against his east London opponents, There were cries for a penalty from the away supporters when Mark Noble went down under the weight of an Antonio Valencia challenge inside the box, although the Hammers were denied and went in at the break a goal down.
Mourinho's men laboured in finding the breakthrough but showed much more initiative to land Lukaku's second as he got on the end of a Henrikh Mkhitaryan free-kick to head past Hart with far too much ease. United goalkeeper David De Gea had a rare bit of work to do when Arnautovic's lobbed header attempt bamboozled the Spanish stopper, but the West Ham winger could only hit the woodwork.
Rashford raised the Old Trafford fans to their feet, bending a long-range effort onto the inside curve of Hart's right post, although the ball trickled just wide of the opposite side of goal. Lukaku should have gone at least one better and completed his debut hat-trick but was denied by Hart, and Daley Blind also diverted an attempt just over the crossbar as United's threats appeared all over the pitch.
Anthony Martial came on for Rashford with 10 minutes remaining, and after some debated his role in the team this season, he tucked in a smart finish one-on-one with Hart after Mkhitaryan's pass squeezed him through on goal.
United will be upbeat about their chances of taking another three points from their trip to the Liberty Stadium next Saturday, having seen Swansea City struggle to create chances in a 0-0 stalemate at Southampton in their season opener.
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