Romelu Lukaku made a dream Old Trafford debut as his £75 million price tag began to pay dividends in a 4-0 win over West Ham United in their Premier League opening fixture.
The Belgian scored a goal in each half as Manchester United steamrolled the visitors with a scintillating performance.
Substitutes Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba got on the score sheet as well to put some gloss on the scoreline in the closing stages.
Here, we focus on the Lukaku’s performance.
Goals – 2
Assists – 0
Shots – 5
Dribbles – 1
Passes – 25
Key passes – 3
Pass Accuracy – 64%
Touches – 41
Aerials Won – 6
The striker looked in the mood from the opening few minutes, running the channels and bulldozing his way down the left flank early on, winning a corner at the end of a powerful run.
With West Ham sitting on the edge of their own box as United settled into the game, Lukaku was the focal point in attack as his teammates played passes off him while he was always a target in the box for crosses coming in.
His pace made him effective on the counter-attack as well, which is how the first goal came about. His clinical strike in the first half was crucial as it calmed a few nerves in Old Trafford, still haunted by last season’s abysmal form in front of goal.
The Belgian then exhibited his aerial dominance with his second goal, coming from an in-swinging free-kick. He could easily have had a third just after the hour mark but his right-footed effort from inside the box was blocked.
Lukaku was also more than useful with his link-up play, setting Pogba up for a chance with a dink over the top of the defence in the second half and ending up with three key passes.
33rd min: Matic does well to get the ball of Pedro Obiang and set Rashford off on the counter. The 19-year-old surges up the field and slides Lukaku in with a perfectly weighted throughball. United’s new No9 makes no mistake as his finish crashes in off the near post.
52nd min: Rashford is set off on the break again, this time by David de Gea, and wins a foul off Zabaleta. Mkhitaryan takes the resultant free-kick and Lukaku towers above the rest with a glancing header into the far corner.
62nd min: The former Everton striker then gets a chance to seal his hat-trick as Rashford plays him in with time and space on the right side of the penalty area. He gets his shot away but it is blocked by Zabaleta who throws himself in front of the effort.
Lukaku could hardly have hoped for a better Old Trafford bow. It was a near perfect performance from the striker which gave United the perfect start to the new season.
It was a solid all-round display, featuring plenty of pace and power coupled with superb centre forward play and lethal finishing. He fell short of a dream hat-trick but this was a huge statement from a monstrous goalscorer.
8.5/10
Chelsea fans when they're asked if they miss Matić and Lukaku.pic.twitter.com/hYp5WfmFYY
— Lisa (@Mourinholxgy) August 13, 2017
4-0. Lukaku double.. Martial, Pogba. Can't hold back the tears.
— Hayley B (@Hayles_101) August 13, 2017
Please Chelsea, Do you have another rejected player like MATA, MATIC AND LUKAKU ? Please we need another one
— AJIBADE M. AKINTOLA (@HAKINTORLAR) August 13, 2017
The Lukaku you expected vrs the Lukaku that came up pic.twitter.com/EV2GFT3FFb
— 24th August🎂🎉 🎈 (@lanceanning) August 13, 2017
All statistics are compiled using whoscored.com
