How does the old footballing cliche go?

Form is temporary, class is permanent!

Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku once again showed us why the cliche is in existence in the first place.

The Belgian hitman hasn’t had the best of seasons, before his two Premier League outings this week, Lukaku had scored just eight goals in twenty-four league games.

Young forward Marcus Rashford had taken Romelu’s place as United’s starting striker and the English man was in fine scoring form under new interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

But Rashford picked up a knock in United’s recent draw with league leaders Liverpool and that kind of forced Solskjaer’s hand in playing Lukaku again as the main frontman.

Now to be fair to Romelu, he had taken chances and had impressed during his cameo appearances under the caretaker manager. He was superb playing on the right against Arsenal in the FA Cup. He would provide two assists in that win over The Gunners and worked really hard for his teammates. The Belgian had also came off of the bench to grab goals in United’s league wins over AFC Bournemouth and Newcastle United.

As the cameos became more frequent you could tell that the twenty-five year old was looking fitter and was hungry to impress. He seemed to take being dropped in his stride, not moaning or bitching about it. He just waited for his big chance to shine.

That chance arrived on Wednesday night as United traveled down to the capital to play a hard working and tough to beat Crystal Palace side.

Lukaku grabbed a brace and gave Man United control of the fixture before the hour mark. He lead the line well and bullied the Palace defence with his physical presence and his burst of pace. The forward won four aerial battles and had more shots on target than any other player. He was also pretty decent in possession.

In yesterday’s triumph against a resilient Southampton, another Romelu Lukaku brace gave The Red Devils a victory that saw them return into the all important top four. 

The Belgian scored two smart curled finishes and he was overjoyed to get the game’s winner.

Those two goals have seen the Belgian international leapfrog Rashford, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial to become Man Utd’s top goalscorer in the league this season. 

ManUtd.com announced after his latest scoring feat that Romelu had now entered the top twenty all-time top scorers in Premier League history with his 111 goals. 

After the win over Southampton, Solskjaer heaped praise on Lukaku (Source – Daily Mail):

‘He is a quality goalscorer,’

‘We need to have him more in front of the goal but he has done fantastic in his work rate, attitude, he loves scoring goals, he smiles every day, he does extra shooting in training.’

Many believe that the forward is just a big-man type striker but he’s a smart player. 

He would go deep yesterday; receive the ball, protect it before laying it back off to the midfield and that allowed Rashford to try and run in behind the Saints defence.

You also noticed Lukaku try and link up more with his strike partner. That shows you that Romelu knows that Ole likes Marcus and that he has to show a development in their partnership to stay in the team. 

Romelu’s finishes in the game also show us that the former Chelsea and Everton hitman has strong technique, practises on the training ground and can evaluate his surroundings. Those type of goals don’t happen by chance alone. 

Many a player has improved under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United. 

Romelu Lukaku is yet another example of that. He looks leaner, fitter, he’s working harder and his all-round game has benefitted from his attitude to prove himself at Old Trafford. 

Man United now have good striking options again and that can only be a good thing as they try and cement their place inside the Premier League’s top four positions. 

Having an inform Romelu Lukaku will only enhance Man United’s chances of reaching that main goal for this season! 

Posted on March 3rd, 2019 by scott
Filed under: Article