Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku was the star of the show in their 3-1 win over Arsenal in the FA Cup Fourth Round at the Emirates Stadium.
When Manchester United were gearing up to face Arsenal in the fourth round of the FA Cup, I wrote an article stating that Romelu Lukaku deserves respect from fans.
Since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over, Marcus Rashford has flourished in the number nine role, keeping Lukaku on the bench.
However, I noted that the Belgium international has actually been doing well coming off the bench, as he scored in the 4-1 home win against Bournemouth and broke the deadlock in the 2-0 away win over Newcastle United.
Hence, I argued that fans and pundits should lay off of the striker’s back and noted that he will get his chance to flourish under Solskjaer soon enough.
And I was proven right instantly.
The interim boss decided to drop Rashford for Lukaku in the FA Cup Fourth Round tie against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Friday.
Although some were unhappy about the idea of Lukaku leading the line against a top-six side, I was ecstatic, as I knew he was going to do his best to prove his detractors wrong.
And boy did he do that.
Lukaku created the opening goal by feigning to shoot but playing Alexis Sanchez in instead with a through ball, which the ex-Arsenal player tucked away beautifully.
The 25-year-old’s contributions didn’t end there, as he set up Jesse Lingard just minutes later with a square pass, which the England international dispatched cleanly.
United went on to win the game 3-1, with Lukaku registering two assists – more contributions than any other player on the pitch for either team.
Take that, haters!
People have constantly made fun of Lukaku’s touch, link-up play and skill – and yet he was able to school Arsenal’s whole XI in 30 minutes with all three in abundance.
He even received the official Man of the Match award from the BBC, as well as from ourselves at Red Devil Armada, showing that he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves.
So can United fans stop disrespecting Lukaku and get behind our number nine? He may be going through a difficult spell at the moment – but he’s still a quality player!