It was a wonder Romelu Lukaku managed to open the scoring against CSKA Moscow. “He hardly moves,” said Michael Owen before
Manchester United’s crushing 4-1 victory, “but because he’s so big and powerful, he just barges people out of the way.”
When evidence to the contrary was provided within four minutes – Lukaku collecting possession in his own half, playing a sublime through ball into the path of Anthony Martial with his weaker foot and racing into the penalty area to convert the subsequent cross – Owen read from the same tired script.
“I don’t think he does much,” said the pundit at half-time, describing a goal where, again, the striker won the ball in his own half, released a player down the wing with a perfectly weighted pass, then burst into the penalty area to score.
Considering all Wayne Rooney had to do in his later years to earn praise in this same shirt was amble back into midfield and launch an angled pass out of play for a throw-in, Lukaku has every right to feel aggrieved. This is a player whose immense talent is being misinterpreted and summarised in the same terms with each passing game: Big, strong, power.
As they have been all season, three other words were far more apt against CSKA: Intelligent, incisive, incredible. Lukaku did indeed bully the home defence, but only in the same way a child genius would outsmart a rather more dim classmate. The Belgian out-thought this haphazard defence more than he out-fought them.
Lukaku was eager to get straight down to business in Moscow, for there rarely is any waffle with the Belgian, but Martial revelled in the foreplay. He bamboozled this defence, using every weapon in his significant arsenal to exact punishment. Only one player made more crosses (3), and no-one completed more dribbles (6). Five chances were created; two were converted.
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He was involved all over their half of the pitch, making runs, winning the ball, laying it off to team mates. In fact, I thought it was his best overall half for us so far.
