London: Romelu Lukaku scored on return as Chelsea bossed Arsenal 2-0 in the first Premier League London derby on Sunday at the Emirates Stadium. The Belgian, who played for the Blues from 2011 to 2014, returned for a reported record fee of 115m euros that will see him at the Stamford Bridge till 2026.
Returning after 10 years, Lukaku was on target from the go as he gave Chelsea the lead from a Reece James assist on 15 minutes. James doubled the lead 20 minutes later when Chelsea product Mason Mount found the fullback with the perfect play, making Arsenal stumble.
The absence of Alexander Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was hugely felt in front of the goal as Arsenal struggled to find the target in two consecutive matches giving away six points. Lukaku could have a couple of more to his tally, but that wasn’t meant to be as the tall forward squandered them.
Off the mark! Romelu Lukaku opens his Chelsea account to help defeat Arsenal. 🔵🔥
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 22, 2021
Plenty more where that came from?#UCL pic.twitter.com/CRt5lYkzfX
Chelsea play Liverpool at Anfield in the coming week, while Arsenal face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. Elsewhere, Manchester United, who started with a bang, fared poorly to share the spoils against Southampton.
Southampton took the lead after Fred, trying to deflect an Adan Armstrong shot, put the ball in his own net on 30 minutes. However, Manchester United made up for the mistake when Mason Greenwood brought the scores level in the second half, from a Paul Pogba assist – his fifth in the league.
Although Manchester United kept on the dominance with custodian David De Gea making a string of amazing saves keeping the opposition at bay. Both sides lost chances of a winner with Greenwood missing a header from a Fred cross, while De Gea denied Armstrong after Harry Maguire almost gave the three points away.
At the Molineux Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 as Dele Alli scored the only goal from a spot-kick after Wolves custodian Jose Sa brought Alli down inside the box.
