Jose Mourinho has praised what he described as a "perfect" first half by Manchester United against Swansea City as the Red Devils ran out 2-0 winners at Old Trafford.

Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring on just five minutes with his 100th Premier League goal and Alexis Sanchez doubled the hosts' lead midway through the first half.

Swansea improved after the break, Tammy Abraham twice denied by David de Gea, but United did not relinquish control and went on to tighten their grip on second place in the table.

"It would be perfect if could play the second half as well as we did the first half," Mourinho told BBC Sport. "The first half we played very well, we kept Swansea back, we scored, we played beautiful, it was perfect.

"The second half they improved but we let it go. Lots of players played internationals, they were tired, they thought the game was in the pocket and we let it go. But it's fine. Every point is vital because we want to stay in second place."

Man United return to action next Saturday with a big derby away at league leaders Manchester City.