Analysing Romelu Lukaku’s Manchester United debut as he lived up to his £75m price tag

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Romelu Lukaku enjoyed a dream start to life at Old Trafford as he marked his Premier League debut for the club with a brace. The Belgian knew that the pressure was on given his £75 million move from Everton this summer, but he did all he could to live up to that valuation against West Ham.

The powerful striker has a superb record against the Hammers and he extended that in the red of Manchester United. He found himself amongst the chances from early on. Good work from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Juan Mata presented Lukaku with his first chance but under intense pressure from Angelo Ogbonna he couldn’t quite find the space to get a shot away.

He didn’t need asking twice though when, just after the half-hour mark, Marcus Rashford threaded a delightful and defence splitting pass into his path. Lukaku unleashed a pinpoint shot which rebound off the post and into the back of the net to open his Premier League account for the season.

He added another not long after the half-time break with a glancing header from Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s free-kick. That was just one of his six aerial challenges won. That went to show how the Belgian will fit in at United, with his aerial strength making him an ideal player as a target man, even if he does offer so much more than that. A great target to aim for, his first goal left United fans with no doubt that he is good with his feet too.

Lukaku was so much more than just a target to aim for though, as his passing showed. With three key passes, he held play up and looked to play in the likes of Marcus Rashford, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and later Anthony Martial as they bombed forward on the counter attack.

It was a promising debut for Lukaku, who has made a superb start to life in Manchester. With the pressure eased on him now, he will look to take United to the next level and make them contenders to be in top spot come the end of the season as well as after just one game having been played.