LUKAKU REIGNS FOR LIMP UNITED
Belgian gets Jose back on track but they won’t catch City like this
THERE was hardly a hint of celebration from Romelu Lukaku. So much so, you had to check the Belgium striker wasn’t offside when he headed Manchester United’s winner last night.
Lukaku turned away without emotion after scoring in the 25th minute. He briefly hugged Anthony Martial and eventually blew a couple of kisses towards the stands, but that was about it. He couldn’t have looked less impressed if someone had just hit him over the head with a plastic bottle or sprayed him with milk.
It has been that kind of time for Lukaku, and it was that kind of night for United.
Those prosperous early-season days when their £75million striker was scoring for fun and they matched Manchester City stride for stride have given way to a difficult winter.
Worse still, Lukaku had a hand in both City’s goals here on Sunday and was implicated in the aftermath when players from both teams brawled in the dressing-room area.
Jose Mourinho might not want to admit it, but City’s win has taken the wind out of United’s sails judging by this performance. If he was hoping his players would prove otherwise, this was not the way to do it.
After the passion of the derby they were sluggish here and hardly deserving of victory over a Bournemouth side who gave just as good as they got. David de Gea was United’s busiest, and best, player.
Old Trafford struggled to rouse itself three days after that deflating derby defeat and fans were baying for the final whistle as the game ended with United on the ropes and Eddie Howe’s side searching desperately for an equaliser.
Mourinho tried to put a brave face on it afterwards. There was no hangover, he insisted, and he doesn’t believe the title race is over either.
‘Fatigue, yes, but hangover no,’ he said. ‘The game was a big one, and a defeat does not help in your recovery. Victories help, defeats don’t. I said we play match after match, and the next we have to try to win. We have a difficult one at West Brom (on Sunday). It is only over in May, May if it is over now I go on holiday to Brazil or Los Angeles.’
Mourinho gave Luke Shaw his first Premier League start of the season and played 21-year- old Scott McTominay in midfield,
and both justified their places places. But a disjointed United struggled to find any fluency in the teeming rain as their manager peeked out from under the hood of his grey anorak.
Bournemouth grew in confidence as the half wore on. De Gea was forced to palm away Charlie Daniels’ shot after the Bournemouth defender had dribbled his way past four United players and let fly from the edge of the box.
He produced three more good saves to deny Dan Gosling, Junior Stanislas and then Ryan Fraser right on the stroke of half-time.
Shaw and Phil Jones also managed to block attempts from Stanislas and Josh King, while Bournemouth captain Simon Francis lifted his shot over the bar when Fraser’s corner dropped at his feet.
It was not what we expected from United, yet they scored from just about their only real clear chance of the first half. It began with good work on the left from Martial, who took on three Bournemouth defenders before laying the ball back to Juan Mata.
The little Spaniard clipped a cross towards the far post where Lukaku rose above Nathan Ake to head back inside the near post.
The lack of emotion from Lukaku was evident. This has been a frustrating time for him, and there were moments here when it showed again. Having escaped a booking for a late challenge on Ake early in the game, he was cautioned by Graham Scott for a second offence on Harry Arter, who had earlier been hurt in a challenge with the Belgian.
Martial should have doubled United’s lead on the hour mark but was guilty of an awful miss in front of goal.
The France winger helped create the chance in the first place, flicking the ball on into space for Lukaku in the penalty area. The striker should perhaps have scored himself but Asmir Begovic came out to make a fine save with his left arm. The ball ran loose for Martial on the edge of the six-yard box but he hurried his shot and aimed well over the bar with Begovic out of his goal.
Martial was replaced shortly afterwards by Marcus Rashford, who immediately raised the tempo and beat Begovic with a spectacular right-foot shot in the 72nd minute that cannoned back off the underside of the bar.
It got the fans off their seats on a night when it felt like there wasn’t much else to shout about as news filtered through of City’s thumping win at Swansea.
De Gea still had to make another smart save to deny substitute Jermain Defoe a late equaliser, and then clung on to a fierce effort from Fraser when Bournemouth won a free-kick on the edge of the box deep into stoppage-time.
Bournemouth boss Howe, who now faces successive games against Liverpool, Chelsea and City, said: ‘I’m very disappointed. I thought we were excellent and we deserved a lot more.
‘We came with a gameplan and the players delivered that. The frustration is they don’t get the reward of a win.’