Romelu Lukaku powered Man United past a listless CSKA, nabbing a brace to secure a comfortable three points in Group A. ESPN FC's Steve Nicol believes Man United deserve credit for not taking their opposition lightly so far in Group A.
Romelu Lukaku's teammates at Everton loved having him in their team, but they'd also wind him up about Harry Kane scoring more goals.
Kane, of course, was the Premier League's top scorer last season, with 29 goals from 30 matches. Lukaku was second with 25 from 37. The Belgium international rightly thought that he needed to be playing in a better team to improve on his tally, and that team could be either Manchester United or Chelsea. He didn't favour one greatly over the other and was convinced he was going back to Stamford Bridge for much of the early close season. He was fine with that but then United, who were wise to want to sign a top striker early, thought it would be easier to get Lukaku out of Goodison that it would to prise Alvaro Morata, another player Mourinho admired, away from Real Madrid.
Lukaku's fee of £75 million has bought instant results with him scoring 10 goals in his first nine games. "Amazing numbers," said Mourinho after Wednesday's 4-1 Champions League win in Moscow. "It is a great achievement, but it is only possible with a good team."
Lukaku was already living near Manchester and already friends with Paul Pogba. In Mourinho, he has a manager who rates him very highly. But he's never scored more goals in a season than Kane since he established himself in the Tottenham first team.
Kane's a completely different type of striker, better at finishing but not as fast as Lukaku. Kane's hold-up play is better, Lukaku is stronger and can run through players. He's better in the air too, his height and strength advantageous as he showed at Southampton on Saturday and after three minutes in Moscow on Wednesday, when he headed in another cross from the left to open the scoring for United. Lukaku's goals are also varied. Already this season, four have come from his right foot, three from his left and three from his head.
Kane had scored a hat-trick the previous night to put him on nine goals so far this season. When Lukaku scored a second in Moscow, it meant he had 10 in all competitions. United and Tottenham fans will have no issue if the pair drive each other on just as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo do in Spain.
Kane's nine goals have come in half his eight games and, like Lukaku, he has one assist. These men are chiefly strikers who want goals, men surrounded by players who want to support their role, but Lukaku is more prepared to do more. That became apparent for United fans right from a preseason game in Houston. They saw how hard he was prepared to work at getting back when he won a ball in his own half against Manchester City in a friendly. In Moscow for that first goal, he picked up the ball on the halfway line after three minutes, struck a 40-yard pass forward to Anthony Martial, who crossed it back in for Lukaku. Lionel Messi does the same for Barcelona.
Lukaku is finally in a better side than at Everton, with better players around him. In Martial, he has a supremely talented creator who also likes to beat men and score. Martial converted a penalty and set up two Lukaku goals in Moscow. Martial has started only four of the eight games in which Lukaku has featured, but already has five goals and has set up another four. Martial will also enjoy a international break next week having not been selected in Didier Deschamps' France team, though that already looks like an error.
The play between Lukaku and Martial is delightful, with Martial enjoying having the Belgium striker as a formidable target whenever he cuts in from the left. United are scoring far more goals than in previous seasons and conceding less thanks to the sustained brilliance of David de Gea, who made key saves on an otherwise quiet night for the United defence in Moscow.
Romelu Lukaku is reaping the benefits of playing with a top team like Man United and a winger like Anthony Martial.
United's fourth goal in the biggest European away win since Leverkusen in 2013 was their 29th in only the 10th game of the season. Even with Zlatan Ibrahimovic knocking them in, it took United 19 matches to get to 29 goals last season and 15 the season before -- ironically when Martial scored against CSKA Moscow away. The difference between United in Moscow two years ago and now is stark. The Russian side, who defeated Benfica away in the first group games, were, in the words of their coach Viktor Goncharenko, "destroyed." Mourinho thought it was the strongest CSKA team in years but we never got to find out because United didn't let them settle: the speed that brought their first early goal left the Russians bewildered.
A criticism of Lukaku is that he plunders goals against weaker teams. He has not had the chance to demonstrate otherwise for United yet, but he's so confident now that you sense he'll score when United start to encounter the better Premier League sides next month. The matches so far could have been more testing, but these were the games United failed to win last season. Lukaku also scored his first-ever United goal against Real Madrid. They're hardly minnows.
It's easily forgotten just how bad United were away in Europe only one year ago, losing their opening two Europa League matches in Rotterdam and Feyenoord on a wretched win-less run in Europe. The current team have better players, more confidence and a manager more trusting in his team. "We start so strong, surprise them and kill the game," said Mourinho. "They didn't look as good as they are, because of us."
The absent players -- including Antonio Valencia, Paul Pogba, Michael Carrick, Marouane Fellaini and Phil Jones -- weren't missed and the team looked fine with a three-man defence, where United's wide men pushed so far forward in their opponents' half that they couldn't play. They did the same in Stockholm in the Europa League final, another game where Mourinho did his homework. The replacement players including Ashley Young and Chris Smalling have stepped up where required, another positive for a side with so many at the moment that these are slightly giddy times for United fans.
Andy Mitten is a freelance writer and the founder and editor of United We Stand. Follow him on Twitter: @AndyMitten.
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