Lukaku brace sees Man United through
Romelu Lukaku broke the 20-goal barrier for Manchester United by scoring twice as Jose Mourinho’s team cruised in the FA Cup quarterfinals.
The Belgian international, a £90 million summer signing from Everton, now boasts 21 goals from 38 appearances in all competitions, and he was the difference at the John Smith’s Stadium for United, who were without Paul Pogba, ruled out because of illness early on Saturday.
Having lost 2-1 at Huddersfield in the Premier League last October, United approached this game with more determination and conviction and took the lead inside three minutes when Lukaku showed strength and poise after latching on to Juan Mata’s through ball.
Mata looked to have doubled the advantage on 45 minutes before his goal was ruled out for offside by VAR, albeit with little conclusive evidence.
But with Huddersfield struggling to mount a sustained assault on Sergio Romero in the United goal, Lukaku made the tie safe for the visitors by rounding off a 55th-minute counter-attacking move, which also involved Alexis Sanchez, by sprinting more than half the length of the pitch to score.
United were boosted by the return of Eric Bailly, who missed three months with an ankle injury, as a stoppage-time substitute. Mourinho will hope to have Pogba, Ander Herrera and Marcus Rashford fit for Wednesday’s Champions League round-of-16 first leg against Sevilla.
Goal.com
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