Lukaku marks Chelsea return with goal

(LONDON, AP):

ROMELU LUKAKU and Harry Kane, two of the world’s best strikers, were back in action in the English Premier League yesterday after some time away.

Lukaku made the better impression.

Making the first appearance of his second spell at Chelsea, the Belgium international marked his return to England’s top division after a two-year absence by scoring one goal and playing a part in the other in a 2-0 win at Arsenal.

“Dominant”, was how Lukaku described his display that saw him bully Arsenal’s patched-up defence into submission at Emirates Stadium.

Kane, the Tottenham striker heavily linked with a move to Manchester City, had not been seen in the Premier League since the final day of last season, having returned late for pre-season training amid growing intrigue over his future.

The England captain entered as a 71st-minute substitute against Wolverhampton – to applause from Spurs fans despite his apparent desire to join City – and wasted a one-on-one opportunity before his team sealed a 1-0 win at Molineux. The only goal came in the ninth minute, a penalty earned and converted by Dele Alli.

“Harry is still in the process of increasing and improving his level of fitness,” said Tottenham manager Nuno Espirito Santo, who coached Wolves for the last four seasons. “But he is one of the best players in the world.”

In just the second tweet sent from his account in the past two weeks, Kane wrote “Brilliant battling win” alongside two photos of him on the field at Molineux.

With a little over a week remaining of the summer transfer window, his future is still uncertain.

Both Chelsea and Tottenham have opened the season with two straight victories. Manchester United could not quite join them.

Mason Greenwood’s second-half goal earned United a point from a 1-1 draw at Southampton. Paul Pogba set up the goal with his fifth assist already this season, having set up four in United’s 5-1 win over Leeds on the opening weekend.

Man United tied the longest unbeaten away record in English soccer’s top division – at 27 games – but were disappointed to leave the south coast with just a point.

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer complained that there was a foul on Bruno Fernandes in the build-up to Southampton’s goal and made comments that were similar to those on Saturday by Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp, who said after a win over Burnley that people should “watch wrestling” if they liked some of the challenges Burnley put in.

“We have to look at it,” Solskjaer said, “because we can’t go from one extreme of volleyball or basketball from last year and go into rugby now.”

DREAM START

Lukaku failed to score in 15 appearances for Chelsea in his first spell at the London club from 2011-14 – two seasons of which were spent out on loan. It took him 15 minutes to score against Arsenal, having been thrown into the team at the first opportunity by Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel.

The way he pinned Arsenal centre back Pablo Mari and then shrugged off the same player as he ran into the area to convert Reece James’ cross demonstrated a striker at the top of his game. It was just what Chelsea missed last season even though the team managed to win the Champions League.

“He proved his value for the squad already,” Tuchel said of Lukaku, who joined from Inter Milan for a club-record fee of $135 million. “He linked really well with Mason and Kai (Havertz) up front.”

Arsenal had also lost their opening game 2-0 at Brentford. It is the first time the team has opened a league campaign with two losses without scoring.