It was long, unusually long: over 500 minutes in the field. It was also very laborious since his previous 13 shots had not hit the mark. But Romelu Lukaku has finally made it. Twelve weeks after his last goal with Chelsea (September 14 against Zenit), the Devil has rediscovered the joy of scoring.
To find the trace of such a long period of silence in club at Lukaku, it was necessary to go back to the spring of 2019, just before his departure from Manchester United to Inter. Since then, Big Rom has shown a pretty incredible consistency, until he suffered this little hollow at the beginning of the fall which worsened with his ankle injury.
Back with the team since November 23, Lukaku received a gentle treatment from his coach Thomas Tuchel. First 0 minutes, then a short entry (8 minutes), a steeper climb (21) and a full half on Saturday against West Ham. As a joker, however, the Belgian did not manage to regain his feelings.
It was therefore necessary to wait for his first post-injury tenure. A very good preparation by Timo Werner for a rather simple finish which allows him to become the Belgian top scorer on the European scene (39 goals), ahead of Luc Nilis. Freed from this weight, the number 9 of the Blues will now have to find a greater impact on the game of his team, because he was still below this Wednesday night, before his exit in the 75th minute.
Chelsea termine 2e
With more precision, Lukaku could in particular have enabled Chelsea not to lose first place in this group H. Despite a double from Timo Werner, the three London goals were not enough. Blame it on Zenit St. Petersburg, player who went to snatch the 3-3 after stoppage time (90th + 4). This allows Juventus, victorious over Malmö (1-0), to win this pool in front of the outgoing winners.
For Romelu Lukaku, it will now be even better to do better on Saturday against Leeds and then on Thursday against Everton, his former club.
