Romelu Lukaku described it as a “dream come true” after he scored twice on his Manchester United Premier League debut.
The £75million (Dh356m) summer signing struck in each half as United thrashed West Ham United 4-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The Londoners were completely outplayed and could easily have trailed by more goals before substitute Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba finally put a more realistic slant on the scoreline in the closing minutes.
“To play in front of such a crowd and for such a great club, it’s a dream come true,” Lukaku told Sky Sports. “The most important thing is the win; the win was good.”
Asked whether he felt relief given his hefty price tag, the Belgian added: “No, just joy for the team. When you play for Manchester United everybody has a job to do and mine is to score goals for the team.
“The team did a good job today, everybody was creative.”
United manager Jose Mourinho believes Lukaku’s display will help his confidence going forward.
“It’s always important,” said the Portuguese. “New players in new clubs, new strikers, everyone expects goals from them.
“The pressure is with them. It’s always nice for their confidence.”
Despite seeing his side go top of the embryonic table, Mourinho still felt United could have come out of the blocks quicker.
He added: “The game was difficult, the game was open; at 2-0 they had a chance. I don’t think the game was 4-0.
“Then of course, score the third goal and you can breathe and play with a lot of confidence.
“I think the reality of the game, this was always a difficult game for us.
“We didn’t start especially well, we were a little bit nervous for 10-15 minutes. Then we had a quality performance, good personality, they played with lots of confidence and have given the result.
“The team was confident and played great football. I’m happy, I think it was a very positive performance
“The fact that we start [by] winning and are top of the league means nothing, because last season we started winning and I think we were top of the league after the first match - it means nothing.
“The performance again, the levels of confidence, is what matters for me. We got three important points.”
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic admitted his side had been outclassed.
“I expected more of course, but I have to admit they were a much better side in every aspect of the game,” he said.
“We knew they had a strong side of course, but I expected us to do much better.
“We started OK but then it was missing, we were much slower than them.
“It’s very hard to find any positives now when you lose 4-0.”
The specs
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Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm
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Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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