Devils delight
Lukaku makes dream debut, Shelvey’s dismissal sparks Spurs
Romelu Lukaku scored twice and Paul Pogba capped an ominous team
display with a late long-range goal as Manchester United beat West Ham 4-0
in their opening game of the English Premier League. With Nemanja Matic
excelling in central midfield, United look to have a side that can seriously challenge for their first league title since 2013, Alex Ferguson’s final year at the club. Lukaku finished off a quick counter-attack, sparked by Matic’s closing-down of an opponent in the centre circle, to put United ahead in the 33rd minute. He added a second with a header from Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s free-kick in the 52nd. Substitute Anthony Martial ran onto Mkhitaryan’s throughball to slot home a third goal in the 87th and Pogba was given space to curl in from 25m. In the other match, Tottenham Hotspur got their campaign on track with a clinical 2-0 win at 10-man Newcastle after Dele Alli scored one goal and helped create the other at St James’ Park.
LONDON: Romelu Lukaku enjoyed a dream English Premier League debut for Manchester United as the Belgian’s brace inspired a 4-0 rout of West Ham, while Jonjo Shelvey’s dismissal was the pivotal moment in Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-0 win at Newcastle.
United manager Jose Mourinho paid a British record £75mil (RM419mil) to sign Lukaku from Everton in the close-season and the 24-year-old needed just 33 minutes to get off the mark for his new club.
Accelerating on Marcus Rashford’s pass, Lukaku drilled a powerful strike in off the post to put United ahead in their Premier League opener at Old Trafford.
Lukaku was virtually unplayable at times and he doubled United’s advantage in the 53rd minute with a bullet header from Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s free-kick.
Substitute Anthony Martial added United’s, slotting past Joe Hart in the 87th minute, before Paul Pogba’s 90th minute strike sent Mourinho’s men to the top of the table above Huddersfield on goal difference.
Once sold by Mourinho when the pair were at Chelsea together, Lukaku could be the catalyst for a first serious title challenge from United since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
Lukaku wasn’t the only impressive United debutant, with Nemanja Matic delivering a solid display that underlined why Chelsea manager Antonio Conte was so miffed his club sanctioned the £40mil (RM224mil) sale of the Serbia midfielder to a title rival.
At St James’ Park, Shelvey was sent off early in the second half for deliberately treading on Tottenham star Dele Alli, who was on the ground only yards from referee Andre Marriner.
Alli got his revenge by firing Tottenham ahead in the 61st minute with a cool close-strike from Christian Eriksen’s superb lofted pass.
Following Tottenham’s Danny Rose had ranted about the club’s failure to sign quality players during the close-season, it was fitting that the injured leftback’s replacement Ben Davies was the man to increase his side’s lead in the 70th minute.
Alli, Eriksen and Harry Kane opened up Newcastle with a flowing move before Davies produced a clinical finish.
Having finishing second last term, Tottenham will hope their winning start bodes well for a sustained bid to dethrone Chelsea.
Pochettino’s side host the champions next weekend in their first league match at Wembley following their move to the national stadium while White Hart Lane is being redeveloped this season.
By then, the Argentine would like to have added to his squad after a frustrating transfer window.
“It was important to start with three points but it wasn’t a great game and wasn’t our best performance,” Pochettino said.
“The balance of the team is the main thing and we need some new players to bring some new energy.”
Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez revealed Shelvey apologised to his team-mates for ruining the promoted club’s return to the top-flight.
“The sending off changed everything. He made a mistake,” Benitez said.
“Hopefully he will learn from it. He has apologised but that changes nothing now.” — AFP