Yesterday, Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku scored his first goal against a top eight side in the Premier League this season. The big Belgian got another scoring strike, his 13th of the season, during the first half of his team’s 2-1 home win over Chelsea. It’s the fifth year in a row that Lukaku has scored double figure goals in Premier League action.
Upon scoring on Sunday, the narrative across the football world was pretty consistent- Lukaku finally scored in a big game/against a big club. Lukaku has obviously heard this often repeated criticism, and he naturally rejects it.
The summer transfer acquisition from Everton believes his record of consistently scoring warrants more respect. He says he hears the criticism, but doesn’t listen to it. He believes his track record speaks for itself.
“I just need to keep working hard,” Lukaku said.
“I think I have got a nice record. I’ve scored a lot this season and I just want to keep going… I started playing when I was 16. Year in, year out people expect 20 goals from me. I’ve been doing it for 10 years straight, so I think I’ve proved myself. You expect a bit more respect but it’s the situation we’re in. I don’t listen to it. I just want to improve and show the people what I can do on the pitch.”
Given that Arsenal acquired Alexandre Lacazette and Chelsea acquired Alvaro Morata during the same summer transfer window, it only follows that the three strikers bought by a trio of big six clubs this past summer, will inevitably be compared to each other.
For what it’s worth, Lukaku has 22 goals on the season across all competitions, while Lacazette and Morata have 21 combined.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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