Romelu Lukaku scored a superb sliding volley to ensure Man Utd reached the last 16 of the Champions League with a 2-1 win over CSKA Moscow on Wednesday night. It was the Belgian’s first goal since the 4-1 win over Newcastle on November 18 and Utd fans will hope it gives him a much-needed confidence boost ahead of a crucial Manchester derby. The Red Devils are a far better team when Lukaku is in-form and they will need to be on fire if they are to halt Man City’s long unbeaten run on Sunday.
The £75 million summer signing started the season in superb form and quickly overtook Harry Kane to be named favourite in the Golden Boot race. He banged in seven goals in his first seven games and looked as though he would be a shoo-in for the Premiership’s top scorer accolade. Lukaku had finished second to Kane the previous season while leading the line for a distinctly average Everton side, and he seemed to be relishing the switch to a big team playing with real swagger.
The season then started to unravel somewhat for Lukaku and he went seven games without a goal through the autumn. He seems to relish playing alongside Paul Pogba and his form tailed off dramatically when the Frenchman suffered an injury. Pogba returned for the Newcastle game and was man of the match as Utd destroyed Rafa Benitez’s men, and lo and behold Lukaku scored for the first time in weeks. It looked like a false dawn though as he drew a blank in the next four games, but now he is back among the goals again after latching onto a superb through ball from Pogba.
That duo will be crucial to Utd’s chances of thwarting a rampant Man City on Sunday. They cannot play like they did for the majority of the Arsenal game, as City are better going forwards and more clinical and will punish them. Man Utd have to take the fight to their city rivals, and that means that Lukaku and Pogba will have to be at their marauding, physical, intimidating best. City have been winning games in fortuitous fashion of late, relying on last gasp winners against middling opposition that ran them really close. A team of Utd’s calibre should be able to capitalise on their fatigue and take all three points on Sunday. If they do it will eliminate City’s air of invincibility, boost their own confidence enormously and blow the title race wide open.
Huge question marks still hang over Man City’s defensive capabilities. Pundits claim Pep Guardiola has sparked massive improvements in the likes of Nicolas Otamendi, but in truth City’s defenders have not been tested much as the opposition has always been on the back foot. Teams are starting to take the fight to them and they have not kept a clean sheet in their last three games. Utd’s forwards have to put them under intense pressure. The strategy paid dividends against Arsenal and City’s defenders are even more gung-ho in their attempts to play out from the back, so Man Utd could reap huge rewards from gegenpressing on Sunday.
But it will count for little if their main striker is out of sorts. Lukaku’s place is now under intense pressure following the return from injury of the leonine Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and he needs to deliver in the big games. Check a Betonline review and you will see that Utd are underdogs in a home game against Man City, and that is not an acceptable situation. They need to reassert their dominance and push for the title, and Lukaku can lead the charge if he recaptures his early season form.
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