Lukaku sees double again as United roll back the years
It has been looking more and more like the old days at Manchester United with each week that passes under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and now the Norwegian can add this throwback of a performance to his increasingly persuasive case to land the job on a permanent basis.
This was one of those afternoons when it was hard to catch your breath and, by the end of a spellbinding game that featured five stunning goals and more swings than a children’s play park, United had another win under their belt and Solskjaer looked even more like the man with the Midas touch. Old Trafford was about as much fun to be around as a morgue during the first half of this season under Jose Mourinho but the thrill factor Solskjaer experienced so often as a player under Sir Alex Ferguson was alive and kicking here.
From 1-0 down in the first half after a 30-yard piledriver from Yan Valery, United led 2-1 thanks to two goals in six minutes from Andreas Pereira and Romelu Lukaku early in the second period before Southampton equalised from James Ward-Prowse’s fine freekick only for Lukaku’s second goal to clinch a dramatic late victory. Three days after scoring twice in a 3-1 win at Crystal Palace, the Belgium striker sought to silence his critics with another matchwinning turn.
There was still time after that for Paul Pogba to miss a penalty, his third failure from the spot this term, but United are back into the top four and now only three points behind Tottenham in third, a position they trailed by 13 points before a run of 10 wins and two draws in the league under Solskjaer.
“The manner of it was like the old days,” Solskjaer said of United’s grandstand finish. “I’ve been part of that so many times myself and I’m so pleased for the boys that they managed to claw three points out of this game. We spoke about at half-time just get some more urgency, get the ball in the box, play more forward and the Stretford End will suck the ball in for you and we felt that support – it is just part of this club, this history, we’ve done it so many times before.”
Chris Smalling headed against a post but, in the main, United suffered from a chronic lack of composure in front of goal in the first half, and while Valery’s thunderbolt – his first professional goal – came against the run of play, the home team were sloppy and, for the first time in 16 games under Solskjaer, behind at the interval.
But the game truly flickered into life almost the moment an injured Alexis Sanchez departed the scene in the 52nd minute, which could be considered a coincidence was it not for the fact that the Chilean has long become a liability for United. Aside from one fine pass from Sanchez in the first half in the build-up to an excellent chance spurned by Lukaku, there was nothing else and the uplift, in confidence, purpose and intensity, once he had left the field and been replaced by Diogo Dalot was startling. Sanchez might face a spell out now with suspected knee ligament damage but it will be no loss.
Solskjaer used the opportunity to push Pereira into the false No9 position vacated by Sanchez and asked Dalot to play wide right of a midfield three and United were so much the better for it. Dalot picked out Pereira, who curled a delicious strike into the same top corner that Valery had found for Southampton in the first half, even if David de Gea will have been disappointed to get beaten at his near post.
“Maybe we found a better position for him,” Solskjaer said of Pereira. “He is more of a No 8 or No 10 than a No 6.”
Few players blow hot and cold quite like Lukaku and so, while the first half lay witness to the infuriating version the second showcased the striker at his best.
Pereira did well to maintain his balance long enough to poke a pass through to Lukaku after a challenge by Jan Bednarek who then tried to close down Lukaku but the striker demonstrated the composure to cut inside the Southampton defender and roll a smart finish low into the bottom corner.
Southampton had looked a threat from setpieces throughout and so when Ashley Young fouled substitute Stuart Armstrong 25 yards out with 15 minutes left, opportunity knocked and Ward-Prowse duly dispatched a sublime free-kick into the top corner.
Could United summon a response? Of course they could, and just as this felt like a big game for Pereira after recent criticism, so Fred will hope it marks a turning point. The Brazil midfielder, who has been a virtual outcast since his £52million move last summer, played a quick one-two with Luke Shaw before finding Lukaku, who held off his marker and then pinged a brilliant finish into the bottom corner.
“He is a quality goalscorer,” Solskjaer said. “He loves scoring goals, he smiles every day, he does extra shooting in training. He has got the goalscorers’ quality.”
The Solskjaer bandwagon rolls on.