Romelu Lukaku's 5 greatest performances in club football
boyhood club, RSC Anderlecht. By the time he was 19, the Belgian already had 41 goals to his name.After grabbing the attention of Chelsea's scouts, Lukaku signed for the Blues in the summer of 2011. Since then, Lukaku has played for West Bromwich Albion, Everton, Manchester United and Inter Milan, his current club.
Romelu Lukaku has broken several records during his career. The former Manchester United striker became the youngest non-English player to score 100 Premier League goals in 2018.
He also netted a century of goals in a shorter period of time than Chelsea legend, Didier Drogba. Lukaku also happens to be Everton's highest scorer in the Premier League. He is also the highest scorer for the Belgium National Team.
The record-breaking Belgian has put in splendid performances for the clubs he has played for over the years. On that note, let's take a look at his five greatest performances in club football.
Romelu Lukaku's five greatest performances in club football:
# 5: Manchester United 2:1: Chelsea (2017-18 Premier League)
One of Romelu Lukaku's finest performances in a red shirt came against Antonio Conte's Chelsea towards the end of the 2017/18 Premier League season.
After Chelsea had taken the lead in the 32nd minute, a goal and an assist from Lukaku completed Manchester United's comeback that won them the game. This game was crucial in deciding where both teams would finish in the league table.
Due to the Belgian's heroics, the men in red were almost guaranteed a second place finish in the league. In that game, Romelu Lukaku had three shots on target, one successful dribble, three aerial duels won, one key pass and one big chance created, despite playing from a deep position. Unsurprisingly, Romelu Lukaku was given the Player of the Match award for his exemplary performance.
#4 PSG 1-3 Manchester United (2018/19 Champions League Round of 16)
The Round of 16 second-leg game against PSG in the 2018-19 Champions League season is not a game that would easily be forgotten by Manchester United fans.
After losing the first leg by two goals at home, the Red Devils needed a miracle to win the tie on away turf. Manchester United were made to press high, create space and counter-attack in the return leg.
After pressing high and capitalising on a miss pass from Thilo Kehrer, Romelu Lukaku scored his first goal of the night. The Belgian continued to stay deep. After Gianluigi Buffon was unable to hold on to Marcus Rashford's powerful long shot, Romelu Lukaku was in the right position to slot the ball into the back of the net.
Marcus Rashford's late penalty made Manchester United the first club in the Champions League era to win a knockout tie in the competition after losing the first leg game by two goals at home.
The Belgian made a plethora of forward runs in the game, looking for goal-scoring opportunities. He had a 100% success rate in dribbles on the night. A fine performance from Romelu Lukaku unsurprisingly won him the Player of the Match award.
#3 Sunderland 0-3 Everton (2016/17 Premier League)
Romelu Lukaku scored his second Premier League hat-trick at the Stadium of Light on Matchday 4 of the 2016/17 season. The Belgian scored all three goals in the second-half and also saw two of his shots miss the goal by a few inches.
Romelu Lukaku held his ground well throughout the game and was dispossessed only once during his 89 minutes on the pitch. The Belgian opened his scoring with a powerful header and completed his hat-trick with a calm one-on-1\one finish.
Belgium's all-time top scorer was on a goal drought before this game, unable to find the back of the net for 1,139 minutes. However, in that game, the Belgian was awarded the Player of the Match award for the first time in the season. Thereafter he went on to win it several times.
Romelu Lukaku also become a serious contender for the Premier League Golden Boot that season and eventually finished in second place with 25 goals to his name.
#2 West Bromwich Albion 5-5 Manchester United (2012/13 Premier League)
In Sir Alex Ferguson's final game as Manchester United manager, Romelu Lukaku scored three second-half goals to ruin the Scotsman's farewell.
The Belgian hit the back of the net three times in 36 minutes, resulting in the game ending in a 5-5 draw. In the process, a 20-year old Romelu Lukaku, on loan from Chelsea, took his goal tally to 17 for the season.
Manchester United had already been crowned the champions in England. To score a hat-trick against his future club after coming off the bench made Romelu Lukaku's achievement even more special.
Romelu Lukaku inspired West Brom's comeback after they were three goals down during the first half. The Belgian received plenty of attention after displaying his clinical finishing ability as well as physicality against a compact Manchester United defence.
#1 Everton 6-3 AFC Bournemouth (2016/17 Premier League)
Romelu Lukaku displayed the finest club performance of his career in a nine-goal thriller at Goodison Park against AFC Bournemouth.
The Belgian hit the back of the net four times, his highest ever goal tally in a single game. Romelu Lukaku scored in the very first minute of the game, giving Everton an early advantage.
Everton went 2-0 up after 23 minutes and Romelu Lukaku further added to Bournemouth's misery by scoring again after six minutes. Two goals from Josh King gave the Cherries hopes of a comeback. But Romelu Lukaku didn't let those two goals change Everton's fate, as he scored twice in two minutes to restore his club's three-goal advantage.
The Toffees eventually won 6-3 in a game where Romelu Lukaku scored two goals in either half. Everton's all-time top-scorer also displayed his ability to dribble in that game, completing five successful dribbles out of seven attempted.