Lukaku justifies investment
MANCHESTER: Romelu Lukaku struck twice on his Premier League debut for Manchester United as Jose Mourinho’s side made an emphatic start to their campaign with a 4-0 win over West Ham United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The Belgian striker, who was signed from Everton in a £75-million move last month, began repaying that investment with two fine finishes but it was not only his imposing presence in attack that give United a very different feel from last season.
Another close-season recruit, Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic, brought from Chelsea, made an excellent debut in the defensive midfield role, breaking up any threats from West Ham and then prompting United’s attacks with intelligence.
With Marcus Rashford’s pace and directness down the left flank and Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s trickery on the right, United showed a variety and inventiveness that too often was missing last season when they drew 10 home games.
One of those home draws came against the Hammers, the fourth in a row at Old Trafford, and a frustrated Mourinho was sent to the stands.
While the United manager has too much experience and sense to get carried away with an opening-day win, he acknowledged his side had delivered a quality performance.
“The fact we start winning and are top, it means nothing. The performance and the levels of confidence is what means a lot to me. We lost two points against them last season and had similar games where we were dominated. Today we got the three points,” he said.
Lukaku opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, blasting in off the post after latching on to a clever through ball from Rashford, who had run with the ball from deep in his own half.
West Ham, whose forward forages were rare, came close to levelling on the stroke of half-time when David De Gea was forced into a fine save by a well-struck effort from Edimilson Fernandes.
But Lukaku made it 2-0 seven minutes after the break, rising to meet a Mkhitaryan free kick with a superbly angled header into the far bottom corner.
Substitute Anthony Martial made it 3-0 in the 87th minute with a side-foot finish after being played in, again by Mkhitaryan.
Moments later Paul Pogba fired in the fourth after he was slipped in by Martial to complete the rout to the delight of the home support.
“The fans want to see attractive football and we have to stick to that,” said Lukaku.
“They will be pleased today. It is just the start, we need to keep working to the manager’s plan.”
In an earlier match, Tottenham Hotspur got their League campaign on track with a clinical 2-0 win at 10-man Newcastle United after Dele Alli scored one goal and helped create the other at St James’s Park.
Having eased back into the top flight from the second-tier Championship, Newcastle held their own against last season’s Premier League runners-up in the opening half but succumbed after Jonjo Shelvey was sent off in the 48th minute.
Shelvey got his marching orders for stomping on Alli and Spurs duly took advantage as the England midfielder, who pulled all the strings for the visitors, broke the deadlock on the hour when he steered in an inch-perfect cross by Christian Eriksen.
Alli, who helped Eriksen set up the other for Davies in the 70th minute, made light of Shelvey’s petulant reaction.
“I’m sure he’ll be disappointed,” Alli told Sky Sports.
“It was important we stayed professional. I don’t want to talk about it too much. I’ve been pulled up for my temper before but today we had to keep our cool. There was no need to react.”
Newcastle, whose fans incessantly booed their former midfielder Moussa Sissoko now playing for Spurs, missed their best chance straight after Shelvey’s dismissal as keeper Hugo Lloris denied Dwight Gayle with a fine save.
Harry Kane, last season’s top scorer in the Premier League with 29 goals, missed a sitter at the other end before Alli slid in at the far post and beat Robert Elliot with a fine finish.
The influential Eriksen and livewire Alli carved open Newcastle’s defence with a lightning move 10 minutes later, presenting Davies with a simple finish from seven metres.
Kane should have added the third in stoppage time as Spurs charged forward but hit the post with only Elliot to beat.
“It was difficult from the beginning. We had to adapt things [after injuries]. The red card changed everything. I think we were defending well. We have to improve. We had our chances but we missed them,” Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez said.
“Jonjo apologised to the team after the game.”
TV replays showed Shelvey deliberately trod on Alli’s ankle in full view of referee Andre Marriner after the Tottenham player failed to give him the ball.
The referee immediately gave the midfielder a straight red card.
Shelvey will now serve an automatic three-match ban, missing games against Huddersfield Town, West Ham United and Swansea City as Newcastle seek to re-establish themselves in England’s top tier after promotion. – Reuters