Romelu Lukaku gets off the mark for Roma after sealing loan move from Chelsea as he nets in 7-0 demolition of Empoli… but boss Jose Mourinho claims he ‘doesn’t know how to play for us yet’
- Romelu Lukaku opened his goals account for Roma in a dominant Serie A win
- Roma thrashed league minnows Empoli 7-0 as Lukaku got off the mark
- Roma boss Jose Mourinho insisted his new star striker ‘needs to be happy’
Romelu Lukaku got off the mark for Roma on Sunday evening by scoring his first goal for the club in a 7-0 thrashing of Empoli.
The Belgian is spending the season on loan at the Serie A giant after being deemed surplus to requirements by Chelsea following a disastrous return to the club.
Lukaku was still searching for the elusive strike to ignite his Roma career and fired in a sixth goal for the hosts in the 86th-minute.
A blistering counter-attack was rounded off by the 30-year-old as he finished with a toe-poke into the bottom corner to guarantee Jose Mourinho’s side a first league win of the new season.
Lukaku started his first Serie A match after Mourinho opted to relegate Andrea Belotti to the bench, and repaid the faith shown in him by scoring late-on.
Romelu Lukaku (left) opened his goals account in Sunday’s dominant win over Empoli
Lukaku is on loan at Roma after falling out of favour at Chelsea following a disastrous return to the club
Former Juventus forward Paulo Dybala scored twice, while there were also goals for Renato Sanches, Bryan Cristante and Gianluca Mancini along with an own goal.
Roma players celebrated emphatically with Lukaku as he stayed cool to fire in the sixth goal of the match and there was a huge release of emotion around the ground as the former Manchester United striker finally found the back of the net.
Mourinho credited Lukaku for bringing a ‘different feel’ to his time when speaking after the match, but insisted the Belgian’s first goal ‘wasn’t important’.
‘It was not important for me. It might be important for him, I know strikers live for the goal,’ said Mourinho.
Roma manager Jose Mourinho (middle) insisted it ‘doesn’t matter’ if Lukaku (right) scores
‘Since the moment he arrived, he has been all about the team and it doesn’t matter if he scores or not. Obviously, he feels happier coming off after a goal and it’s perfect for him, especially to score in front of the Curva.
‘Romelu brings a different profile to the team and we still need to learn how to play for him, because we don’t have the hang of it yet, nor does he know how to play for us. We have time to work on it and games help that too.’
‘Romelu needs to be happy, needs to feel loved and wanted. He arrived here, immediately realised the team needed a player like him. He is a guy who likes to win.
‘I don’t think Inter have any reason to be angry, because they won the derby 5-1 and have so many extraordinary strikers. So they ought to be happy for their ex-coach who really needed a striker.’
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