Lukaku back among the goals ahead of Manchester derby showdown
LONDON: It won’t go down as the best goal of Romelu Lukaku’s first season at Manchester United. It might prove to be one of the most significant.
When Lukaku stuck out his left foot and prodded in a close-range volley for the equaliser against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League on Tuesday, a sense of relief swept through Old Trafford.
Aside from scoring the final goal in United’s 4-1 win against an overwhelmed Newcastle on Nov 18, Lukaku hadn’t found the net for his new club since the end of September.
That run of one goal in 12 games hardly compared favourably to his fast start at United – 11 goals in his opening 10 matches.
Why Lukaku started to struggle is a matter of some debate.
Was it the fact it coincided with a two-month injury absence of midfielder Paul Pogba, Lukaku’s close friend and the driving force in United’s midfield?
Was it the schedule, given that there were tough games against Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea early in his barren run?
Was it just a natural come-down from the high he was on upon joining United?
Maybe defenders were simply learning how to play him better.
Whatever the reason, Lukaku’s confidence in front of goal seemed to desert him and it wasn’t helped that he appeared isolated at times because of United manager Jose Mourinho’s tactics in some games.
The slump in form of playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan probably didn’t help in that respect, either.
When Zlatan Ibrahimovic made an earlier- than-expected return last month from a longterm knee injury, there were suddenly doubts about whether Lukaku was assured to be Mourinho’s first-choice striker going forward.
Yet the coach who once oversaw the departure of Lukaku from Chelsea in 2014 has never lost faith in the same, but more mature, player he brought to United in July.
In late October, Mourinho said Lukaku should be “untouchable” from criticism from United’s fans.
Lukaku is a player oozing in self-belief anyway, but he will have been comforted by Mourinho’s continued backing, especially given what happened at Chelsea.
Considering he already has 13 goals by early December, this has to be regarded as a successful start to life at United by Lukaku.
He also recently became Belgium’s all-time leading scorer with 31 goals.
He is only 24, remember.
Critics point to his sometimes-heavy first touch and his past failure to regularly score goals in big games.
But there’s so much more to come from Lukaku.
Starting, United fans will hope, with the team’s biggest game of the season against league leaders and arch-rivals Manchester City on Sunday.