Inter Striker Romelu Lukaku showed how he can still affect the game even when he’s not scoring goals with his performance against Napoli in yesterday’s 1-0 Serie A win.
This is the view in today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews, whoa argue that the Belgian was an important part of the Nerazzurri’s tactical display to overcome the league leaders even if he failed to find the back of the net.
Lukaku wasn’t directly involved in Inter’s only goal of the match yesterday, whilst the 29-year-old blazed over with a decent first half opportunity.
Combined with some loose first touches, this was evidence that full match-sharpness still eludes the striker.
Nevertheless, the importance of the Belgian’s workrate and movement to the team should not be overlooked.
Throughout the first half in particular, the Nerazzurri relied on Lukaku’s threat in behind to give Napoli a difficult decision to make about how high up the pitch they wanted to push up.
Moreover, the Belgian often dropped deeper than he usually does, helping to drag the Partenopei backline out of position.
Lukaku came up against one of Serie A’s most in-form defenders in the form of Kim Min-Jae, and their running battle kept the South Korean very busy.
Even if the 29-year-old couldn’t get on the scoresheet himself, Tuttosport argues, Inter would not have been able to break down Napoli’s backline, or had the same kind of threat in behind, without him.