Lukaku in double for Man U
DEBATE over the merits of video assistant refereeing (VAR) was raised again as a Romelu Lukaku double eased Manchester United into the FA Cup quarterfinals in a 2-0 win at Huddersfield on Saturday.
Juan Mata thought he had put United into a 2-0 lead just before half time, only for the Spaniard’s effort to be ruled out by the video referee for offside after a lengthy delay.
But despite the setback, Lukaku struck early in both halves to take his tally for the season to 21.
“If they have the VAR to help them make the right decisions, I think the referees will be happy with that,” Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said.
“But if the VAR changes their good decisions for bad decisions, I think they are not happy with that.”
Mourinho made six changes in all from last weekend’s shock reverse at St James’ Park, but his decision to retain Lukaku paid dividends when the Belgian burst onto Mata’s pass to open the scoring inside three minutes.
Then came the Mata incident when he had the ball in the net a minute before the break.
United ensured the disallowed goal was not to cost them, as a brilliant one-two between Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez freed the former to slot low past Jonas Lossl.
Elsewhere, West Brom were bundled out of the FA Cup as Southampton won 2-1 at the Hawthorns.
Wesley Hoedt took advantage of some slack West Brom marking to head home his first goal for Southampton just 11-minutes in.
Dusan Tadic doubled the visitors’ advantage after the break and Southampton held out despite Salomon Rondon’s spectacular volley pulling a goal back.
Brighton cruised into the last-eight as fourth-tier Coventry City’s fairytale run came to a crashing end in a 3-1 defeat.
Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea City face a replay after a 0-0 draw. – AFP