April 2018

Ever since Romelu Lukaku and Alvaro Morata respectively moved to Manchester United and Chelsea from Everton and Real Madrid, controversies and arguments have sprang up and it’s pertinent to look at how both players have performed so far during the 2017/2018 season which will soon come to an end. Following his £75 million move from Goodison Park, Lukaku started life at Old Trafford with a goal in the 2-1 loss to Real Madrid in the Uefa Super Cup and went on to score in consecutive Premier League games, equaling the record set by a few United strikers like Anthony Martial, Louis Saha, Federico Macheda and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. 100 – Romelu Lukaku is the 28th player to have scored 100 @premierleague goals, and the first Belgian to do so. Milestone. — OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 31, 2018 The big Belgian, after netting 10 goals in nine games, then had a bad spell in front of goal. He however recovered and has been in devastating form especially in 2018 with 13 goals and four assists for both club and country in 16 games. Lukaku recently reached three milestones in goal scoring which are: all-time top scorer for the Belgian national team, 200 career goals and most recently 100 Premier League goals, all at the age of 24. Bolingoli has not been so lucky in terms of playing for a big club in his career but has shown that he can deliver on the big stage especially now that he is playing for Manchester United. Lukaku has 26 goals for the Red Devils this season with 15 of those coming in the league alone. Alvaro Morata on the other hand, has been poor in the blue colors of Chelsea, failing to justify the £70 million that was splashed on him. The Spaniard missed a penalty in the Community Shield against Arsenal and started life with difficulty in the Premier League. One might be tempted to say it is his first time in the most competitive football league in the world because he later netted 10 top-flight goals in the first half of the campaign including against Manchester United and it sparked a beautiful row on Twitter where fans of both clubs threw words like “over to you” when either of them scored. If Chelsea signed Dzeko when he decided that Morata's intelligence & fisrt touch was not enough for a team that was serious about doing anything meaningful, he'd be in a much better place now. Signing Morata was a mistake. Failing to sign Dzeko was a BIGGER mistake. — Babanla (@biolakazeem) April 1, 2018 The 25-year old – who has led the lines for the Spanish national team, Juventus and Real Madrid and has a Champions League medal, has been falling down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge. First it was Mitchy Batshuayi, Eden Hazard (as a false nine) and recently by Olivier Giroud, a situation not helped by a back injury. Conte made more horrific decisions this season than most managers make in a lifetime. SMS to Costa, Matic for Baka, Drinkwater & Barkley, Morata instead of Lukaku, tiff with Luiz, fight with Mourinho. Michy for Giroud. It is a buffet of mistakes. Just serve yourself. — Babanla (@biolakazeem) April 1, 2018 Morata was bought in to replace the out-of-favour and now-departed Diego Costa but it’s appalling that he has just one league goal this year. The former Real Madrid man is now looking like a kitten compared to his predecessor, an accurate description as per dailymail.co.uk. It’s unfortunate that Antonio Conte went for fine looks over goal scoring. Morata was more efficient as a substitute at the Santiago Bernabeu and he failed to live up to the billing with Spain during Euro 2016 and was never a top player at Juventus where he scored just 15 Serie A goals in two seasons. 5 – Romelu Lukaku is the fifth youngest player to score 100 Premier League goals. Michael Owen (23y 134d)Robbie Fowler (23y 283d)Wayne Rooney (24y 100d)Harry Kane (24y 191d)Romelu Lukaku (24y 322d) Flourish. https://t.co/s47U4jwMl5 — OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 31, 2018 Fans have argued for Lukaku as regards his stature, pace and power while for Morata, they emphasized his skillfulness, intelligent runs and past glories. It is however now evident who the clear winner is. The Belgian has since contributed to about thrice as many goals than his Spanish counterpart in all competitions clearly showing that he is the boss of goal scoring. Romelu has been taunted to disappear in big games but recently answered his critics with assists against Tottenham Hotspur, a goal and assist against Chelsea and an assist against Liverpool. The former Anderlecht forward recently challenged the Premier League organizers to an all-star game to further demonstrate his confidence. https://twitter.com/UnitedAdz/status/980110112617623552?s=19 Morata – with a, paltry two goals in all competitions in 2018, has doubts hanging over his future at Chelsea as he’s not the preferred choice these days and his place at the World Cup is also under threat from Mariano and the resurgent Costa. Lukaku however, having just reached a milestone of 100 Premier League goals that only Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler, Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane have managed to achieve faster, is leading the lines for Manchester United and Belgium and is growing stronger. It should now be a fact and debate rested that Romelu Bolingoli Lukaku is king over Alvaro Morata. What are your thoughts on this topic? Kindly share in the comments box. Follow Dayo ob Twitter: @gleeddee Photo Credit: Getty Images